Edisi 09 Desember 2015 | International Bali Post

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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Kardashian, Kanye welcome ‘Saint’ to family

In this Sunday, June 28, 2015, file photo, Kendrick Lamar performs at the BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Lamar, Taylor Swift and the Weeknd have earned top nominations for the 2016 Grammy Awards, including album of the year.

Rapper Lamar, pop star Swift lead Grammy nods

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File

NEW YORK - Rapper Kendrick Lamar on Monday received a near-record number of Grammy Award nominations, with pop superstar Taylor Swift leading for the most prestigious categories.

Lamar -- who has won wide critical acclaim for his politically charged latest album “To Pimp a Butterfly” -- earned 11 nominations for the music industry’s biggest awards, the highest number in a single night other than Michael Jackson’s 12 nods in 1984 during the King of Pop’s “Thriller” days.

“To Pimp a Butterfly,” Lamar’s first album in nearly three years, is unusually innovative for such a commercially anticipated album with long sections of unaccompanied spoken word, frequent historical allusions and jazzy interludes.

Lamar -- who hails from the gangsta rap capital of Compton in southern California but unlike many stars has had few personal controversies -- examines the state of US race relations on “To Pimp a Butterfly,” with mockery of Wash-

ington politicians and explorations on his search for inner strength.

Lamar’s heavy haul comes in part due to his collaborations with other artists, as he was also nominated for work with the DJ Flying Lotus and Swift herself.

Lamar also won acclaim for his last album, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City,” and was nominated in seven categories in the 2014 awards.

But he did not win any awards, leading some critics to allege a double-standard against African American artists.

Swift and The Weeknd, the rising Canadian R&B star, followed Lamar with seven nominations each for the Grammys, which will be announced at a gala ceremony in Los Angeles on February 15.

But Swift was ahead in the four most-watched categories, with

nominations in all of them except Best New Artist.

She enjoyed nods for Album of the Year for “1989” -- which marked her transition from country to pop -- as well as Record of the Year and Song of the Year for her hit “Blank Space.”

“1989” was the fastest-selling album in more than a decade although it was recently surpassed by “25,” the latest blockbuster by English ballad singer Adele.

“25” was not eligible for the Grammys, which cover releases in the year to September 30.

“To Pimp a Butterfly” and “Beauty Behind the Madness,” The Weeknd’s sophomore work, were also in contention for Album of the Year.

English singer and guitarist Ed Sheeran’s viral ballad “Thinking Out Loud” was also nominated for both Record of the Year, which considers overall performance, and Song of the Year, which recognizes songwriting. (afp)

NEW YORK - Rapper Kanye West and reality TV star Kim Kardashian are rarely accused of understatement and have given a fittingly grand name to their second child -- Saint.

Two days after announcing the boy’s birth over social media, Kardashian again took to Twitter and announced “SAINT WEST” -- along with emoji faces depicting the now four-member family.

The celebrity couple called their two-year-old daughter North, a play on geography as her surname is West although her given name was also meant to symbolize power.

While Saint and its derivatives are not unusual as surnames in English and several other languages, it is highly rare as a first name, with the title usually bestowed by religious authorities.

West -- who alongside his music career has been an increasingly active fashion designer -- is known to see himself in historic terms and has repeatedly compared himself to Michelangelo.

The couple, who were married in May 2014, have struggled to overcome fertility problems -- a battle that Kardashian openly discussed on the reality show. (afp)

WEATHER FORECAST 23 - 32 Dps

Wednesday, December 9, 2015 Japan launches anti-terrorism unit ahead of summit, Olympics Page 6

e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.

Benfica and Atletico Madrid slug it out to head Group C Page 8

UNESCO’s recognition of Balinese dances to help promote Indonesian tourism

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop pop-up shop in NYC robbed

NEW YORK — Authorities are searching for three men who robbed Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop pop-up shop in New York City of more than $173,000 worth of jewelry and watches.

It happened Saturday afternoon at the lifestyle website’s temporary store inside The Shops at Columbus Circle in midtown Manhattan’s Time Warner Center. The store had

one of its busiest days Saturday.

Police say one of the suspects used some kind of object to open a cabinet containing the merchandise while the employees were distracted.

A statement from Goop says its customers and staff are safe, and the store remains open for business “with proper security precautions in place.” The store is open through Dec. 24. (ap)

ANTARA FOTO/Fikri Yusuf

Tourists spend their holiday at Kuta Beach, Bali Island. The number of tourists from Australia to Bali is predicted to grow by a much slower rate this year as a result of the temporary shutdowns of airport and Australia’s economic slowdown.

Slowdown predicted in number of Australian tourists to Bali

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File

Beijing schools close as some residents take smog holiday Page 13

DENPASAR - The number of tourists from Australia to Bali is predicted to grow by a much slower rate this year as a result of the temporary shutdowns of airport and Australia’s economic slowdown.

The International Ngurah Rai airport was shut down several times with the eruption of Mount Barujari and Mount Rinjani spewing thick smokes that blurred vision over the airport.

“However, the impact of the shutdowns was relatively small on the number of visits to Bali. The main reason is the economic condition in Australia,” tourism observer Dewa Nyoman Putra said on Tuesday.

Australians are still the largest in num-

ber but the increase was relatively low amid economic slowdown mainly with the coal price fall, Dewa said.

The decline in the number of visitors from Australia, however was offset by significant increases in the number of visitors from the United States, Britain Japan, India and Germany, he said.

The increase in the number of countries from which visitors are given visa free visit contributed to the rise in the number of foreign tourists to the country in 2015

notably from China, placing it the second largest country of origin after Australia.

Based on official record of the Bali tourism office, there were 3.36 million foreign visitors to Bali in the first 10 months of the year, or an increase of 7.61 percent from the same period last year.

News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http://ustream.tv/ channel/global-fm-bali.

THE UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage meeting in Windhoek, Namibia, on December 2, 2015, inscribed 20 new elements, including three Balinese dances on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List. The three genres of traditional Balinese dance are sacred, semi-sacred, and that meant for enjoyment by communities at large, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Intangible Cultural Heritage published on its website recently.

Coordinating Minister for Cultural and Human Development Puan Maharani lauded the UNESCO’s decision to inscribe the dance forms on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the Committee for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The inclusion of the Balinese dance forms in the UNESCO World Heritage could help promote Indonesia’s tourism internationally, the minister emphasized.

The coordinating minister hoped that UNESCO’s recognition would encourage the Indonesian people to preserve the country’s culture and traditions.

Balinese traditional dance forms depict moral and religious values that could serve as a media to implement the mental revolution program, according to Maharani. Traditional Balinese dance forms are performed by men and women dancers dressed in traditional costumes comprising brightly colored clothes painted with gold floral and faunal motifs, with gold-leafed and ornate accessories.

The dance forms are inspired by nature and symbolize specific traditions, customs, and religious values.They combine a variety of different movements, including a basic posture wherein the knees are bent outwards and the stomach held in, locomotive movements in different tempos and directions, transitional movements with dynamic changes, and facial expressions with eye movements depicting happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and love, all in tune to the music of the ‘’gamelan.’’

In addition to being technically skilled dancers, the performers must have the charisma, humility, discipline, and a special spiritual energy that enlivens the performance, the UNESCO reported in a statement posted on its official website.

Continue to page 2 Balinese ...

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International

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Bali News

International

From page 1

IBP/Wawan

The Rejang dance performed during ritual ceremony at Senduro Mandara Giri Semeru Agung Temple.

Nine dances in WCH shielding Bali

THE ACHIEVEMENTS of Indonesia in the tenth session of the Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage of the UNESCO in Namibia, Africa, can be said to be exceptional. After all, not many countries get nine of their dances recognized in a single determination. Earnest study and the taksu or divine vibration of these dances are important factors that contributed to these nine traditional Balinese being included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The initiative to propose that Balinese traditional dances be recognised by the UNESCO was started by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2010, but it was not until March 28, 2015 that they were submitted for approval to be included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The proposal that was submitted to the UNESCO, was signed by Director General of Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture and was accompanied by a 50 minute film about the nine traditional Balinese dances in question. In October 2015, they were approved as Intangible World Cultural Heritage by Indonesia.

Humanist and professor, Dr. I Made Bandem, said that Bali has so many forms and types of dances but that these nine dances were selected based on their history of representing (wether deliberately or not), specific districts or municipalities in Bali. The first group of dances emerged in Balinese kingdoms between the month and the fourteenth century, they are: the Rejang dance (Klungkung), the Sanghyang Dedari dance (Karangasem) and the Baris Upacara dance (Bangli).

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

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All Seasons Resort Legian Bali

Balinese...

Knowledge In Balinese communities, the knowledge on these dance forms is mainly imparted informally to children since an early age within groups.

Training starts with basic dance movements and positions and then advances to more intricate dance moves.

The sessions continue until the students have memorized the sequence of movements.

Traditional Balinese dance forms provide the participants with a solid cultural identity grounded in the understanding that they are safeguarding the cultural heritage of their ancestors, according to the UNESCO. Head of the Bali Cultural Office Dewa Putu Beratha noted in Denpasar, Bali, recently that the funding received following the UNESCO’s recognition, would be used to preserve the dances.

He claimed that the three genres of Bali dance comprise nine dances: Barong Ket, Joged Bumbung, Legong Keraton, Wayang Wong, Gambuh, Topeng Sidhakarya, Baris Upacara, Sanghyang Dedari, and Rejang.

“We are very happy and grateful on receiving this designation. Thus, Bali not only receives protection relating to the preservation of traditional dances but it will also offer economic benefits in future,” Dewa explained.

According to Dewa, after the UNESCO recognized the Balinese dance forms, it is now the responsibility of the central government, the Bali provincial government, and district/city governments to prepare the required infrastructure for the preservation and development of traditional Balinese dances.

Eight Indonesian cultural elements have so far been inscribed by the UNESCO since 2008.

The elements included are three genres of traditional Balinese dance inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2015 and the Noken multifunctional knotted or woven bag, a handicraft of the people of Papua inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2012.

The other elements are the Saman Dance of Aceh Darussalam Province inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2011, Angklung traditional musical instrument of West Java inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, and Batik inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.

Education and training in Indonesian Batik intangible cultural heritage is being imparted to elementary, junior, senior, vocational school, and polytechnic students in collaboration with the Batik Museum in Pekalongan, which is inscribed on the List of the Best Safeguarding Practices in 2009.

The Wayang puppet theatre and Kris traditional daggers were inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.

The 10th session of the Committee, which was organized in Namibia, brought together the representatives of 24 States Parties to UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, now numbering 336 elements from various countries, demonstrates the diversity of this heritage and raises awareness on its importance. (ant)

Activities

The second group of dances are composed of classical dances from the fifteenth to nineteenth century. This group of dance consist of the Sidakarya mask dance (Tabanan), the Gambuh dance drama (Gianyar), and the Wayang Wong dance drama (Buleleng) also known as the bebali dance. The last group of dances emerged between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and are often referred to as balih-balihan dances or entertainment dance and include the Legong Kraton dance (Denpasar), Joged Bumbung (Jembrana), and Barong Ket Kuntisraya (Badung).

“I had expressed that, if for whatever reason all nine dances could not be included, we would reduce the number to just three: Sanghyang Dedari, Gambuh and Legon.

And if only one dance could be included in the list then we would propose the Gambuh dance because it is the basis for all Balinese dance drama. Thankfully, all nine dances were accepted,” said Bandem who burst into tears when he heard that the nine dances had all been accepted by the UNESCO. According to Bandem, a dance that has been determined to be cultural heritage may have sub-dances. For instance, the Rejang

dance has upward of 20 variants known in Bali. In the future, he hopes that the government will propose other traditional dances like the parwa dance drama, arja operetta, calonarang dance drama and berutuk dance to be recognized too.

“The countries of the UNESCO will commemorate the art of Balinese dance and this will open up a dialogue between cultures and strengthens Indonesia’s position in the field of cultural diplomacy. For Bali, all of these traditional dances are the source of for creating innovative contemporary works that are still being created to this day,” added Bandem who is a dancer himself.

He has also proposed that that the date on which the nine dances were official recognized by UNESCO- December 2, (which coincides with pagerwesi), be celebrated as Balinese Cultural Shield Day. Hopefully there will be increased public awareness about the importance of preserving and developing traditional arts. Specifically, he mentioned that the wali dance should not be performed carelessly.

“In the past, there was coaching about the sacred arts, but now this seems to have become dormant. Hopefully, in the future, even though the sacred dances cannot be staged in the Bali Arts Festival, institutions that pass on skill related to the sacred arts, can be better supported and given costumes and training so that they can be more active thus ensuring that the wali dances survive,” explained Dr. Bandem. (rin)

 Founder : K.Nadha,  General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti  Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bagiarta. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto.  Development: Alit Purnata, Mas Ruscitadewi.  Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp.

(0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post

LEGIAN - All Seasons Resort Legian opened since 2005 is located in the prime location between the popular Kuta and Seminyak shopping and entertainment areas. It is only 20 minutes from Ngurah Rai International Airport and a short stroll from the famous Legian beach. Step into All Seasons Legian spacious open lobby, you enter a world of colors. With concept of funky, warm and friendly service, all the guests will have an outstanding experience in Bali.

All Seasons have 78 Superior Rooms (24 sqm) functional and well designed with a modern influence, 6 Family Rooms (30 sqm) designed to welcome 2 adults and 2 children, and 29 Deluxe Rooms (32 sqm) provide more space and open rain shower.

The guest can take a table at Colours Café where they can sample Asian and International favorites or chill out on the comfy low slung couches while watch the widescreen TV in the Sky Bar. The Colours Café opened from 06.30 am-23.00 pm.

Surrounded by tropical gardens and frangipani trees, the central pool deck comes complete with kids pool, sun loungers and a bar serving any kind of food and beverage choices.

Enjoying also the serene of Chill Out at all seasons Spa that offers a full range of treatments, from traditional Balinese massage to Ayurveda, as well as nail care, hair treatments and facials, all using special made products.

Balinese Temple Ceremony

Every Temple and Shrine has a special date for it annual Ceremony, or “ Odalan “, every 210 days according to Balinese calendar, including the smaller ancestral shrine which each family possesses. Because of this practically every few days a ceremony of festival of some kind takes place in some Village in Bali. There are also times when the entire island celebrated the same Holiday, such as at Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi day, Saraswati day, Tumpek Landep day, Pagerwesi day, Tumpek Wayang day etc.

The dedication or inauguration day of a Temple is considered its birth day and celebration always takes place on the same day if the wuku or 210 day calendar is used. When new moon is used then the celebration always happens on new moon or full moon.

The day of course can differ the religious celebration of a temple lasts at least one full day with some temple celebrating for three days while the celebration of Besakih temple, the Mother Temple, is never less than 7 days and most of the time it lasts for 11 days, depending on the importance of the occasion.

The celebration is very colorful. The shrine are dressed with pieces of cloths and sometimes with brocade, sailings, decorations of carved wood and sometimes painted with gold and Chinese coins, very beautifully arranged, are hung in the four corners of the shrine. In front of shrine are placed red, white or black umbrellas depending which Gods are worshipped in the shrines.

In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbul-umbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land. Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.

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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Technology

International

Electric planes aim to soar high for cleaner aviation sector

AJDOVSCINA, Slovenia - Ultra-light, fast and cheap: more than a century after the Wright brothers flew the world’s first powered aircraft, a small Slovenian company now hopes to revolutionise the aviation industry with its award-winning electric planes.

Pipistrel’s pioneering Taurus Electro is seen as a breath of fresh air in a sector responsible for 13 percent of CO2 emissions from all transport sources.

Launched in 2007, around 20 orders are now put in every year for the two-seater plane, which is produced in a factory in the town of Ajdovscina, close to the Italian border.

The 110,000-euro ($120,770) price tag is offset by the plane’s inexpensive maintenance: at 70 cents an hour, the Taurus is 10 times cheaper to run than traditional twin-seater

planes, according to Pipistrel.

Simplicity is key: you charge the battery, hop inside the cockpit and hit the “on” button to activate the fuselage’s propeller.

The large-winged aircraft can thrust itself to an altitude of 2,000 metres (6,500 feet), after which the engine is retracted and the Taurus glides across the sky as a sailplane.

“You have just two buttons, up and down and full power, but you can always switch off immediately when you need to slow down the aircraft,” explained pilot Nejc Faganelj, soaring high above the

Slovenian countryside on a sunny winter’s day.

But behind the deceptively easy usage lies a highly complex design. The most crucial element -- and biggest challenge -- is the lithium battery, which needs to be light yet sturdy so that it doesn’t catch fire if it overheats.

“To copy a design from the car industry is not that difficult. But to make something that is lighter, more efficient -- that is definitely something that has not been done before,” said Pipistrel engineer Jure Tomaciz.

Now Pipistrel has even loftier ambitions: to sell the world’s first electric four-seater plane.

Its Taurus G4 prototype -- built by combining two twin-seaters -- won NASA’s prestigious Green Flight award in 2011, worth $1.35 million.

The plane covered 650 kilometres (400 miles) in the space of two hours with an average speed of 172 kilometres per hour.

“The car industry, with all the money it has at its disposal, and practically no weight limitation, even today isn’t capable of producing an electric car that would take four passengers for 600 kilometres at a speed of 200 kilometres per hour,” Pipistrel’s

founder, Ivo Boscarol told AFP. “We did that with our electric plane,” he added proudly.

The son of a machine engineer turned test pilot, Boscarol has spent the last three decades developing and perfecting his low-carbon invention.

Today, the Slovenian firm is a global market leader in the field of energy-efficient aviation travel, with Boscarol featuring on the 2015 list of news outlet Politico’s most influential Europeans.

“I’m sure the electric flight will become a standard. This aircraft will be able to cross the Atlantic, to fly faster, to carry more persons,” he said confidently. (afp)

Apple Maps, once a laughingstock, now dominates iPhones

AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File

In this March 9, 2015, file photo, the Apple Maps app is displayed on an Apple Watch during an event in San Francisco.

NEW YORK — Apple Maps quickly became the butt of jokes when it debuted in 2012. It overlooked many towns and businesses and misplaced famous landmarks. It marked New York’s Madison Square Garden arena as park space because of the word “Garden.” The service was a rare blunder for a company known for simple, easy-to-use products.

It’s a different story three years later.

Apple fixed errors as users submitted them. It quietly bought several mapping companies, mostly for their engineers and other talent. This fall, it added transit directions for several major cities, narrowing a major gap with Google. Apple Maps is now used more widely than Google Maps on iPhones.

“They really did a great job in a short amount of time,” said Alex Mackenzie-Torres, a former Google Maps manager who’s now with competing transit app Moovit. “Apple has something that few companies have — simplicity in design mixed with high doses of pragmatism and practicality.”

Apple’s significant investment in fixing Maps underscores how important maps and related services are to tech companies.

Location is key to helping phone users find restaurants and shops, discover things to do and just get around. It’s also big business, as app makers tap into the core map-

ping functions of phones to direct people in helpful ways and sometimes offer them bargains based on where they’re standing.

The quick turnaround also demonstrates how easily companies like Apple can steer people to their own services. Google Maps and various third-party apps offer many features that Apple Maps lacks, yet Apple cleverly turned user inertia to its advantage. Many people use Apple Maps just because it comes with the phone. Even if you’ve taken the trouble to download a competing app, other iPhone services such as Siri and Mail will invariably take you to Apple Maps.

Apple says its mapping service is now used more than three times as often as its next leading competitor on iPhones and iPads, with more than 5 billion map-related requests each week. Research firm comScore says Apple has a modest lead over Google on iPhones in the U.S., though comScore measures how many people use a service in a given month rather than how often.

Google still dominates among all U.S. smartphones, though, in part because Apple Maps isn’t available on Google’s Android system, which is more prevalent than iPhones. In October, Google Maps had more than twice as many smartphone users as Apple Maps. Much like Apple, Google benefits as the default on Android. (ap)

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Bali News

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

International

International

Passenger apprehended for carrying bomblike object DENPASAR - A 48 year old Qatar Airways passenger headed from Denpasar to Doha, was arrested by Denpasar Police, on Sunday (Dec. 6). The case is still being investigated by the Denpasar Police Criminal Investigation and the suspect with the initials FD is being examined intensively.

Chief of the Denpasar Police Criminal Investigation, Reinhard, accompanied by Spokesperson Hery Wiyanto said on Monday (Dec. 7), that based on a report made to the Air Zone Police last Sunday, the Qatar Airways flight number Q963, the passenger was carrying an object suspected of being an explosive.

“An AVSEC security guard, said that FD who holds a British passport was first taken aside after his luggage passed throughout the X-ray machine at the international departures of Ngurah Rai Airport,” said Reinhard.

On Sunday around 4:00 p.m. FD checked in at the Qatar Airways counter. He then showed an object resembling a bomb to an security guard named Ngakan Putu Negara. “The reported (FD—Ed) asked whether the object was allowed to be carried on board. Ngakan answered saying that it was allowed,” explained Reinhard.

FD and the item were then brought to an X-ray device to be checked. The bomb like object was secured by security guard Nur Afni while FD and his companion were permitted to proceed with the check-in process.

“As the plane was about to take off, the airport tower officials instructed the plane remain grounded and FD and his companion were told to leave the plane to be checked by the airport security guards,” said the Police chief.

According to what FD told the officer who questioned him, the suspicious item had been purchased at a store on Jalan Laksamana, Seminyak, North Kuta. Chief of the Denpasar Police, Anak Agung Sudana and a mobile criminal investigation team then went to the store to corroborate his story. One similar item was found at the store and was immediately handed over to the police.

“The store owner and his assistant have been summoned for questioning. Currently, the investigators are still investigating witnesses and the suspect is being examined accompanied by an interpreter. The bomb-like object has been secured as evidence,” confirmed Reinhard. (kmb36)

Workers install a Christmas tree on display outside a shopping mall in a heavy pollution haze in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015. Schools closed and rushhour roads were much quieter than normal as Beijing invoked its first-ever red alert for smog Tuesday, closing many factories and imposing restrictions to keep half the city’s vehicles off the roads.

The preparation for the election is seen in the picture.

IBP/Yudi Karnaedi

Denpasar mayoral election 2015

Electoral Commission targets 77.5 percent voter turnout

DENPASAR - The Denpasar mayoral election will be held today and the Electoral Commission is aiming for a 77.5 percent voter turnout. Chairman of the Denpasar Electoral Commission, I Gede John Darmawan explained that based on previous experience, there is a 35 percent abstention rate.

Gede John Darmawan recently said that the Electorial Commission has been taking steps to increase voter turnout in the mayoral election of Denpasar through various means of getting information out to the public about the importance of voting.

“We have held different types of activities aimed at encouraging people to be use their

right to vote. Such activities include sporting events and other socio-cultural events that gather people together,” explained Darmawan.

He emphasized that without the support of the community, all of the programs that have been carried out will onto be able to achieve their objective. Denpasar’s popula-

tion of 422,294 has therefore been continuously invited to use their right to vote.

Darmawan gave as an example a fun walk that was organized by the Eletoral Commission on Saturday, in which information about the logistics of the mayoral election of Denpasar was given out to the public. The distribution was implemented in two subdistricts: South Denpasar and West Denpasar. The campaigning period for the mayoral candidates is now closed and all banners posters and the like have been taken down. (kmb12)

DGT releases a delinquent foreigner DENPASAR - The Directorate General of Taxation (DGT) is taking firm action against taxes delinquents, including foreigners.

Not long ago the DGT held a foreign citizen with the initials RJD who had been serving as the tax guarantor for two local businesses PT. LB and PT. WN. Both of these companies are listed in the Primary Tax Office (KPP) of North Badung,

but were detained at the Bangli Detention House.

“However, on Friday (Dec. 4), both taxpayers paid their tax debts.

In accordance with statutory provisions, after paying off ones tax debt, a taxpayers can be released,” said Chief of the KPP North Badung, Ni Ketut Sriani, on Saturday (Dec. 5).

Sriani explained that according to Law No.19/1997 on tax billing

by distress warrant (PPSP), as amended by Law No.19/2000, by which temporary retraints of liberty may be placed on tax guarantors, by holding them ‘hostage’ but this can only be done to tax guarantors whose debts is of at least one hundred million rupiah and whose good faith in paying the tax debt is in doubt. “‘Hostaging’ is carried out for a

maximum of six months and may be extended for another six months and held in custody pursuant to the ‘decree of hostage’ issued by the Head of the KPP after obtaining written permission from the Minister of Finance or the Governor,” he explained.

Head of DGT Bali, Wahju K. Tumakaka, asserted that tax collection in principle is conducted

with respect to the good faith of taxpayers to settle their tax debts.

By showing a sign of good faith in genuinely attempting to pay off a tax debt, “hard collections” and “hostaging” can be avoided.

“Communication with the KPP in regards to efforts to settle their tax debt is the first measure that taxpayers can take to being cooperative,” affirmed Tumakala. (kmb32)

Beijing schools close as some residents take smog holiday

BEIJING — Some residents took a smog holiday away from Beijing on Tuesday as the Chinese capital launched restrictions under its first red alert for pollution, closing schools, suspending factories and keeping half the vehicles off the streets.

Although Beijing has in recent years seen smog at much worse levels than Tuesday’s, the latest bout of pollution was the first to trigger a red alert under a 2-year-old system that requires a forecast at the outset of at least 72 hours of consecutive high pollution.

The capital’s hazardous smog has persisted despite the Chinese government’s stated priority of cleaning up the legacy of pollution left from years of full-tilt economic growth. Most of the smog is blamed on coal-fired power plants, along with vehicle emissions, construction and factory work.

“This is modern life for Beijing people. We wanted to develop, and now we pay the price,” Beijing office worker Cao Yong said during a break from work. A grey soupy haze subsumed Beijing’s unique landmarks, convenience stores sold air-filtering masks at brisk rates and health-food stores promoted pear juice as a traditional Chinese tonic for the lungs.

“And air purifiers at home are a must,” Beijing resident Sun Yuanyuan said at a downtown Beijing juice shop.

Under restrictions in effect Tuesday through Thursday, schools were urged to close voluntarily unless they had good air filtration. However, Beijing’s education commission later

followed up with a separate order for schools to close during the three-day alert. Some residents grumbled about the inconvenience, and a few international schools sought permission to reopen Wednesday.

A slew of Beijingers said via social media they planned to escape the gloom. They needed to travel relatively far, however, because nearly all of China’s northeast was affected, and many cities — including nearby Shijiazhuang — were even worse than Beijing.

After hearing of the school closings late Monday, Beijing mother Jiang Xia booked tickets for a 3,200 kilometer (2,000-mile) flight to the relatively clean southwestern city of Kunming, for herself and her 8-year-old daughter who she said suffers nosebleeds in the smog. She said in an interview from Kunming that they hectically packed before dawn Tuesday for their flight.

“But when we arrived in Kunming and breathed in this clean, fresh air, I was very glad I made this move — a very wise decision,” Jiang said.

Readings of PM2.5 particles climbed above 300 micrograms per cubic meter in some parts of the city Tuesday and were expected to continue rising before improving Thursday. The World Health Orga-

nization designates the safe level for the tiny, poisonous particles at 25.

Factory suspensions and several other restrictions will seek to reduce the dust and other particulate matter in the city of 22.5 million people.

Use of a car is restricted to every other day depending on its license plate, and officials planned to deploy extra subway trains and buses to compensate. Some businesses closed and others said employees could work from home for the duration.

A Beijing resident who gave his only his surname, Du, said he was taking advantage of a lack of crowds near the capital’s ancient Forbidden City to stroll and take unique photographs.

“I like this kind of haziness. It gives a blurry feeling and makes you feel like you’re in a dream,” Du said.

While the capital’s air improved in the first 10 months of the year compared with the same period last year, it has suffered two recent prolonged bouts of severe smog, which is typically worse in the winter and which last time sent PM 2.5 level as high as 976 in some locations.

A red alert requires a forecast of 72 straight hours of pollution levels of 300 or higher on the city’s air quality index. The index is closely linked to levels of PM2.5, although it also includes other pollutants. As an example, one Beijing monitoring site at midday showed an index reading of 308 and a PM2.5 reading of 258.(ap)

13

Putin’s foe Khodorkovsky summoned for questioning

MOSCOW — In an unexpected renewal of a feud between the Kremlin and Russia’s former richest man, exiled tycoon and exprisoner Mikhail Khodorkovsky was summoned for questioning in Moscow on Tuesday.

Khodorkovsky posted on social media a copy of the summons, which was delivered to the Moscow home of his 82-year-old father, who was himself questioned by investigators in August about the 1998 killing of a Siberian mayor.

Investigators announced in June that they were reopening the probe into the slaying of Vladimir Petukhov and considered Khodorkovsky a prime suspect. Khodorkovsky and his associates have denied involvement in the killing in Nefteyugansk, the town where his company, Yukos, was headquartered at the time.

Khodorkovsky on his personal Twitter account described the summons as a “feeble attempt to change the subject” in a reference to a recent anti-corruption investigation which pointed at top Russian prosecutors.

The tycoon’s spokeswoman, Olga Pispanen said that Khodorkovsky “has no intention to get in touch with investigators” because “he had played in this farce for 10 years.”

Khodorkovsky, 52, spent 10 years in prison on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement, which have been seen as punishment for challenging President Vladimir Putin’s power. Since his 2013 release, Khodorkovsky has continued to oppose the Kremlin from exile in Switzerland.

While Khodorkovsky was in prison, Putin and other senior officials kept dropping hints about his possible involvement in Petukhov’s murder. In 2010, Putin went as far as to suggest that Khodorkovsky had “blood on his hands.”

Khodorkovsky walked free in December 2013, less than two months before the start of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and just a few months before his scheduled release, after Putin issued a presidential pardon in response to Khodorkovsky’s petition to leave the country to meet his mother who was undergoing medical treatment in Germany.

Khodorkovsky was put on the plane on the day of his release. He has not returned to Russia since.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that Putin had some “suspicions and information” about Khodorkovsky’s possible involvement in Petukhov’s murder when he issued the pardon but that the reports were not conclusive Putin “did not have the information that has now surfaced and triggered the actions that investigators are taking,” he said.(ap)

AP Photo/Yves Logghe, File

FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2014, file photo, Russian businessman and Amnesty International prisoner of conscience Mikhail Khodorkovsky smiles as he attends the Foreign Affairs Committee for a debate on human rights situation in Russia at the European Parliament building, in Brussels, Belgium.

12

International

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

International

BUSINESS

Indonesia Today

5

President, VP to report Novanto to police

Asian markets fall on oil price plunge, China trade data

HONG KONG - Oil prices struggled at seven-year lows Tuesday, sending Asian energy firms plunging in line with their US and European counterparts after OPEC’s decision to maintain output dimmed hopes for a recovery in the black gold.

Another tumble in Chinese imports and exports exacerbated the decline on regional markets, reinforcing worries about the state of the world economy at the same time as Washington considers raising US interest rates.

A global supply glut, weak demand and the growth slowdown in China have combined with soaring production to send crude slumping more than 60 percent over the past 18 months.

Investors had been hoping that with the market becoming increasingly tight, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could find a way to ease output and release some pressure on prices.

However, the cartel’s six-monthly meeting Friday ended without agreement between bickering members to make any cuts, which in turn battered global markets.

On Monday US benchmark West Texas Intermediate sank 5.8 percent and Brent crude shed 5.3 percent -- hitting levels not seen since February 2009. WTI had tumbled 2.7 percent and Brent lost 1.9 percent Friday.

US giant ExxonMobil, France’s Total and Italy’s Eni all fell between two and three percent, with many smaller producers and oil-services companies suffering even bigger drops.

And Asian firms continued those losses as crude failed to recover. Hong Kong-listed Chinese giant CNOOC was down 4.3 percent, while PetroChina was off more than one percent in Shanghai.

Mining giant BHP Billiton dived more than five percent in Sydney, while Rio Tinto was off 4.3 percent.

Woodside lost four percent and Oil Search plunged more than 16 percent after Woodside dropped a multibillion-dollar bid for the latter without explanation.

Santos, which has a joint venture with Oil Search in a massive PNG gas project, saw its shares crash 13.1 percent.

Japan’s Inpex was off five percent while JX Holdings lost 3.7 percent.

Among Asian stock markets, Tokyo and Sydney lost around one percent, Shanghai fell 1.9 percent and Hong Kong was off 1.8 percent.

“Market focus at the moment is the potential deflationary effects of lower oil prices, and the signalling that aggregate demand is weak,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.

Commodity-linked currencies took a hit from the falls, with Malaysia’s ringgit down one percent and the Australian dollar losing 0.1 percent.

In China, investors were hit by another round of weak trade data indicating the world’s number two economy and key driver of global growth is heading for its worst year in a quarter-century.

“Fading exports remain a main drag on the slowing economy, adding downward pressure on the yuan and increasing the likelihood of further easing,” Bloomberg economists Fielding Chen and Tom Orlik wrote in a note.

“The hope is that the recovery in the global economy in 2016 may extend some help to China’s exports.” (afp)

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

AP Photo/Trisnadi

Boys look at a life-sized model of popular Japanese animation character “Doraemon” on display during an exhibition titled “100 Doraemon Secret Gadgets Expo” in Surabaya, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. Doraemon, a blue robotic cat from the 22nd century, is popular in many parts of the world, including Asia and Latin America. It has a four-dimensional pocket in its stomach with a seemingly endless supply of items to help its friends.

AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File

In this Oct. 21, 2015 file photo, workers watch shipping and discharging of containers at a port in Tokyo.

Japan’s economy grew at an annual 1.0 percent pace in the July to September quarter, according to revised data that indicates the country dodged a recession.

Japan sidesteps recession, revised growth at 1 percent

TOKYO — Japan sidestepped recession last quarter: Revised data released Tuesday showed its economy grew at an annual 1.0 percent pace instead of shrinking.

A previous estimate had shown the world’s third-largest economy contracted 0.8 percent in the July-September quarter, after shrinking 0.5 percent in the previous quarter. Two consecutive quarters of contraction are considered a recession.

The revised growth figure makes it less likely that Japan’s central bank will deploy further monetary stimulus anytime soon, despite slow progress toward its goal of 2 percent inflation.

The data show stronger corporate investment and a slightly higher pace of growth in exports than earlier reported.

But the major change was an upward revision in inventories to 1.5 trillion yen ($12.2 billion) from a preliminary estimate that inventories fell 1.9 trillion yen ($15.4 billion). That may not auger well for future growth if manufacturers are overshooting demand from companies and consumers.

“Actually, relative to the impressive gain in income, private domestic demand ... remains quite low,” Masamichi Adachi of JPMorgan said in a research note. He described the inventories situation as a “wild card.”

On a quarterly basis the economy

expanded 0.3 percent from the previous quarter instead of contracting 0.2 percent as the earlier estimate showed.

Economists are forecasting about 1.5 percent growth in the current quarter.

Japanese companies are investing heavily overseas while holding back on wage increases and factory upgrades at home, despite repeated entreaties by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to do more to help the recovery along.

Foreign companies, likewise, have not heeded Abe’s efforts to attract more investment. Data reported Tuesday showed total foreign direct investment in the past year was only 4 billion yen ($32.5 million), less than 0.001 percent of its GDP. (ap)

JAKARTA - A member of the Parliament Honorary Tribunal (MKD), Akbar Faisal, said he had information that both President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla would report House Speaker Setya Novanto to police.

“I heard the President and Vice President would report Setya Novanto to police on charge of illegally using their names for personal gain,” Akbar Faisal said.

“I just heard that information, and I fully supports the move,” he said in a short text message here on Tuesday without naming his source. On Monday Novanto denied all charges against hims before the MDK in a closed door session.

Earlier, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said reported Novanto to the MDK with transcript accusing him of asking for a share in PT Freeport Indonesia in exchange of support for its bid to secure approval for contract extension.

The U.S. company, which has large copper and gold mines in Papua, is seeking extension of its contract which will expire in 2021.

The transcript of conversation between Novanto and his business friend Riza Chalid and Freeport President Director Maroef Sjamsuddin said that the House Speaker used the name of the president and vice president to convince Freeport that the contract would be extended.

The MKD already summoned Sudirman Said and Ma’roef for questioning in an open session broadcast live by television.

Jokowi was said to have been furious about the session questioning Novanto being closed to the media and the attempts of Novanto’s supporters in MKD to play down the seriousness of the charge against him .

“It does not matter that I am called crazy, insane or hard headed, but when it concerns the institutional authority, misusing the name of President for a 11 percent share (in Freeport), that, I could not accept. This is a matter of propriety and morality,” he said on Monday. Earlier Jusuf Kalla said Novanto has been involved in criminal conspiracy. (ant)

Novanto denies Freeport extortion claim

JAKARTA — The embattled speaker of Indonesia’s House of Representatives denied Monday that he demanded a stake worth billions of dollars in a giant U.S.-owned gold and copper mine in exchange for allegedly helping it extend its operating contract.

House speaker Setya Novanto and a businessman ally are accused of falsely using the names of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla to seek shares in PT Freeport Indonesia.

The two allegedly met in June with Freeport Indonesia chief executive Maroef Sjamsoeddin and asked for a 20 percent stake — 11 percent for Jokowi and the rest for Kalla — in return for an early extension of the company’s operations in Indonesia.

Jokowi denied any involvement and expressed anger Monday at Novanto’s alleged actions.

The case has dominated news in Indonesia for several weeks and is seen as one of the biggest political scandals in years. The country has taken a variety of steps toward democracy, but is still one of the most corrupt in Asia.

In an investigation, Parliament’s Ethics Council questioned Sjamsoeddin and Energy and Mining Minister Sudirman Said in a hearing last Thursday broadcast on national

television. However, on Monday it questioned Novanto behind closed doors, disappointing hundreds of journalists and spectators waiting outside the meeting room.

In comments from Monday’s hearing circulated among journalists, Novanto denied the accusation and said a secret recording of the June conversation made by the Freeport executive was illegal because it was done without his permission.

“This is an illegal recording, and I object to it being used as evidence,” Novanto told the Ethics Council.

In his testimony last Thursday, Sjamsoeddin indicated that Novanto, from the opposition Golkar Party, had attempted to extort the company’s shares.

Sjamsoeddin said he recorded the conversation because of suspicions about the subject of discussion and the presence of Muhammad Riza Chalid, an oil and gas businessman.

The 80-minute recording, played at the hearing, shocked many Indonesians. In it, Novanto and Chalid apparently attempt to convince the Freeport executive that they could ensure the company’s contract would be extended from 2021 to 2041 because of their influence and Novanto’s close connections with a Jokowi aide.

“I felt uncomfortable about the conversation because it was inappropriate,” Sjamsoeddin told the Ethics Council. He said he decided to report the conversation to his superiors and the government.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Said reported Novanto to the Ethics Council last month and provided it with a transcript of the conversation.

Freeport has agreed to divest 30 percent of its Indonesian unit as part of its investment agreement with the government. It has asked for an extension of its current contract, which ends in 2021, before investing billions of dollars more at its Grasberg mine.

Security Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan told reporters last week that the government would not speed up the extension of Freeport’s contract because regulations say ne-

AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana

Indonesian House Speaker Setya Novanto, center, leaves after attending the Parliament’s Ethics Council hearing in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. gotiations can only begin two years before the contract ends.

Grasberg, located in troubled Papua province, is one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines. It has experienced frequent violent protests by workers, while

activist groups have complained of alleged pollution and unfair distribution of profits.

It is run by Phoenix, Arizonabased Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and produces around 220,000 tons of ore per day. (ap)

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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

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RLD

International

Slovakia amends constitution after Paris attacks

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — The Slovak Parliament has amended the constitution to give authorities more powers to deal with terror suspects following the attacks in Paris.

In a 95-25 vote Tuesday, the lawmakers agreed to double the time such a suspect can be detained, from 48 to 96 hours. The amendment also extends to six days the time during which a judge has to decide whether a terror suspect will be kept in detention or released.

The measures are part of a package of legislation presented to parliament by the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico.

They also include changes in the penal code that give increased powers to the intelligence services and police force. A vote is expected later Tuesday but the government has a sufficient majority to approve them. (ap)

AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, standing, gives instructions to members, foreground, of a newly-established international terrorism information collection unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015.

Japan launches anti-terrorism unit ahead of summit, Olympics

TOKYO — Japan launched a new counterterrorism unit in an air of secrecy Tuesday, with journalists only allowed to photograph its 24 members from behind.

The country is expanding its international espionage work after being shocked by the deaths of five Japanese citizens at the hands of Islamic militants this year. The recent Paris attacks have also raised fears ahead of a Group of Seven summit in Japan next year and the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.

It’s mostly uncharted territory for Japan, which has never suffered a terror attack by outsiders in its modern history.

“The country is inexperienced, and its counterterrorism capability is untested,” said Motonobu Abekawa, a former official at the Public Security Intelligence Agency and a terrorism studies expert at Nihon University. “People have long thought terrorist attacks are a distant problem abroad.”

Japan began exploring ways to boost public safety and intelligence after the Islamic State group killed two Japanese hostages in Syria early this year. An attack on tourists at a museum in Tunisia later claimed three more Japanese lives.

During the hostage crisis, Japan often appeared at a loss for quality intelligence. Japanese agents

should develop their own sources so they don’t have to rely on U.S. or British agents for information, Abekawa said. “I hope eventually they can be counterparts of MI6 or the CIA,” he said.

The new Counterterrorism Unit-Japan includes staff from the foreign and defense ministries, the National Police Agency and the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, Japan’s version of the CIA. Initially made up of four leaders and 20 Tokyo-based experts focusing on Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and north and western Africa, it eventually is to also include 20 intelligence officers assigned to overseas posts, possibly in Amman, Cairo, Jakarta and New Delhi.

News photographers covering the launch were told they couldn’t show the faces of the team, only their backs, as they sat in rows of plastic chairs in the prime minister’s office. Japan has no institute to train intelligence agents, so they will have to learn on the job.

“Japan is still a novice in counterterrorism measures, and there

are lots of blind spots,” said Koichi Oizumi, an expert on risk management and terrorism at Aomori Chuo Gakuin University. “The biggest concern is intelligence gathering. There is a serious shortage of experts who can gather real intelligence and analyze it.”

In its annual security report published Monday, the National Police Agency stressed the need to raise alert levels for next year’s G-7 summit in western Japan because it could be “a perfect target” amid escalating extremist attacks in Europe and the Middle East.

Last month’s Paris attacks prompted splashy stories about potential targets in Tokyo in weekly magazines. A “Tokyo terror target map” in one included a popular electronics district, an upscale shopping mall during the Christmas season and a major shrine.

Japan plans to obtain passenger information from airlines, install body scanners at major airports and step up identification of foreign visitors at hotels. A new police unit will search for Internet content related to extremist groups. (ap)

4 French soldiers questioned in African child rape case PARIS — Officials say four French soldiers are being questioned in an investigation into alleged child rape in Central African Republic.

The national gendarme service official says that the soldiers are being questioned on Tuesday, but is not indicating whether they are being treated as suspects or witnesses. A judicial official says they are being questioned in Paris. The officials aren’t authorized to be publicly named.

French authorities opened an investigation in 2014 into accusations that French troops raped or sexually abused several children in Central African Republic. The French military intervened there in late 2013 to protect civilians from sectarian violence. The accusations weren’t made public until much later, prompting international dismay and questions about how France and the U.N. handled the case. (ap)

International

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

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The number of visitors from Australia grew by only 0.9 percent to 820,802 in the January-October period of 2015 from 812,723 people in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the number of visitors from China grew 20.55 percent to 601,340. A strong growth of 18.54 percent to 108,532 was recorded in the number of visitors from the United States amid the global crisis still besetting that country.

Observers are optimistic that Bali would reach its target in number of foreign visitors at 4 million this year based on the trend so far. (ant)

ACCESSORIES

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Saudi court reopens case of Sri Lanka woman sentenced to die

COLOMBO — A Sri Lankan government minister says a Saudi court has decided to reopen the case of a Sri Lankan woman who was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.

Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva told parliament Tuesday that an appeals court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, has decided to hear the case again following pleas by Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry.

De Silva said, “We see this as a victory,” adding that the ministry will bear all the legal expenses of reopening the case and “make the fullest efforts in order to get this sentence changed.”

The 45-year-old married woman, who was working as a maid in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to death in August. The unmarried Sri Lankan man convicted alongside her was sentenced to 100 lashes. (ap)

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Destination

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

International

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

International

Hornets close on division lead as Heat loses to Wizards CHARLOTTE — Charlotte moved within half a game of the NBA Southeast Division lead with a 104-84 win over Detroit on Monday while division leader Miami was beaten at home by Washington.

Raja Ampat; Divers paradise

PAPUA - The roaring engines fixed to a large wooden boat are finally quiet. Nothing can be heard but the rifting little waves, lapping against the vibrant paint on the sides of the vessel that gracefully slows down. Native birds hop on the tip of a small tree in one of the deserted islands in the distance.

Raja Ampat or ‘Four Kings’, is the name given to these islands and comes from a local myth. The four major islands found here are Waigeo, Misool (which is home to ancient rock paintings), Salawati, and Batanta.

Underwater enthusiasts flock to this region because it offers the world’s best marine sights. Two days earlier, some of these travelers had been at a deafening corner of a tourist trap in Bali. Once they took their flight to the bird head of the island of Papua everything changed as they embarked on a diving tour of a lifetime. In the Raja Ampat

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islands, divers can explore vertical underwater walls. The thrill of drift diving is another great challenge.

These are the awesome experiences you will find in Raja Ampat.

Meanwhile, on this tour several divers were well equipped and looked advanced. The territory within the islands of the Four Kings is enormous, covering 9.8 million acres of land and sea, home to 540 types of corals, more than 1,000 types of coral fish and 700 types of mollusks. This makes it the most diverse living library for world’s coral reef and underwater biota. According to a report developed by The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International, around 75% of the world’s species live here. When divers first arrive here their excitement is palpable.

It’s common to hear people praise God as they take in the remarkable scenery. Others prefer to remain in silence taking in the overwhelming

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sight of so many islands with crystal clear water that softly brushes over the white sandy beaches.

“Disini bagus!”, says the friendly local guide who had been appointed by the tour operator who runs an eco-lodge in Raja Ampat, indicating that they have arrived at one of the most fantastic diving sites. On other days, this guide is just a simple fisherman. The local fishermen here are accustomed to foreigners and are friendly, especially when offered pinang (betel nuts) or some sweet candies. These are very popular and offering these sweets is considered polite and a good way to win an instant smile.

The fishermen usually eat this snack during Para-para Pinang, or social chatting and exchanging funny stories while chewing Pinang. In many respects, like nature, culture, and history, these fishermen are closer to the Moluccas. (www.indonesia.travel)

IBP/Courtesy of www.indonesia.travel AP Photo/Chuck Burton

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Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond (0) blocks a shot by Charlotte Hornets’ Kemba Walker (15) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Dec. 7, 2015.

Cody Zeller scored 20 points for the Hornets, who have won seven of nine to climb up the standings. Miami’s Chris Bosh was ejected as the Heat was defeated by Detroit, costing the Florida team the overall lead in the Eastern Conference, which was taken by idle Cleveland.

In another key result, Dallas survived a withering finish by New York to beat the Knicks on their home court. Charlotte’s Marvin Williams scored 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Kemba Walker had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who won the rebound tally 57-41 despite the absence of injured center Al Jefferson.

The Pistons, who had won their previous four games, were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 16 points.

Washington’s John Wall scored 26 points one night after leaving a game with a sore knee, leading the Wizards to a 114-103 win at Miami.

Gary Neal added 21 including a debated 3-pointer with just over a minute left, with Miami claiming

Bradley Beal had traveled on the play. Neal’s 3 put the Wizards up by five points and effectively sealed the result.

Bosh was ejected soon after for arguing calls and non-calls; the second ejection of his 13-year career.

Dwyane Wade led Miami with 26 points. Dallas survived a comeback attempt sparked by Kristaps Porzingis and won 104-97 at New York.

Porzingis finished with 28 points in his first matchup with Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, the German great he has been compared to for his perimeter shooting skills by a 7-footer.

Nowitzki scored 25 points.

The Latvian rookie made consecutive 3-pointers as the Knicks cut what had been a 23-point deficit to 101-97 with 43 seconds left, then blocked Deron Williams’ shot. But Carmelo Anthony was called for an offensive foul as the Knicks were trying to get the ball to Porzingis for another shot, and Nowitzki followed with a free throw before Williams made two more to close it out.

Los Angeles’ DeAndre Jordan

had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lift the Clippers to a 110-106 win at Minnesota and their fifth victory in six games.

The Clippers trailed 98-95 with a minute to play, but Jordan threw down an alley-oop and then blocked a shot. Blake Griffin scored on a layup for a 99-98 lead with 25 seconds to play. The Clippers won a free throw shooting contest to close it out.

Griffin had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Paul made a surprise return to the lineup after missing the previous two games with a rib injury. Los Angeles went 26 for 29 at the free throw line and even Jordan was 4 of 6.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range for the Timberwolves.

Phoenix came from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to stun Chicago and win 103-101. Mirza Teletovic scored 21 points, including a follow basket with 0.3 seconds left, to cap the victory.

Brandon Knight had 17 of his 21 points in the fourth to snap a four-game skid. The Suns outscored Chicago 42-24 in the final period.

Pau Gasol scored 22 points to lead the Bulls. (ap)

Alonso tries Honda MotoGP bike at Motegi IOC to hear from Rio organizers amid budget cuts, recession LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The president is facing impeachment proceedings. The economy is in free fall. The country is reeling from a wide-ranging corruption scandal. Such is the grim backdrop in Brazil as organizers of next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro prepare to make their latest progress report to the IOC. With eight months until the opening ceremony, the final stretch of Olympic preparations is taking place amid political and financial turmoil in Brazil.The nation’s worst recession since the 1930s is already having an impact on the games: The organizing committee budget is being slashed and leading to cuts in services — including discussions about whether the athletes will have free air conditioning in their rooms.

Rio organizers are traveling to Lausanne for this week’s three-day meeting of the International Olympic Committee executive board, which starts Tuesday. While concerns over construction delays in Rio have eased over the past year, organizing committee chief Carlos Nuzman will be under pressure to reassure the IOC that the economic and political crises won’t derail planning for South America’s first Olympics, which open on Aug. 5, 2016.

When Rio was awarded the games seven years ago, Brazil was riding high as an emerging giant with a booming economy. Now, Latin America’s largest economy is sinking — the real has lost a third of its value this year, gross domestic product has tumbled, inflation is nearing 10 percent and unemployment has soared to nearly 8 percent. The downturn comes with Brazil mired in a massive kickback scandal centered on Petrobras, the giant state-run oil company. (ap)

McLaren Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso tried a Honda MotoGP bike alongside Marc Marquez at Honda’s end-of-season ‘Thanks Day’ event at Motegi on Sunday.

Alonso had a brief run on the production specification Honda RC213V used in MotoGP’s Open class by the likes of Nicky Hayden, Jack Miller and Eugene Laverty this season, riding beside a Honda NSX Concept GT car driven by Marquez. The two Spanish legends also swapped helmets at the end of their demonstration run.

In addition to his MotoGP experience and laps in Honda road and GT cars, Alonso drove the McLaren-Honda MP4/6 used by Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger in the 1991 F1 season.

F1 driver turned IndyCar race winner Takuma Sato was part of the event as well, with his duties including laps in Honda’s 1968 RA301 F1 car.

They were joined by a large contingent from Honda’s motorcycle competition and Japanese domestic racing programmes, with

Fernando Alonso exhibition races also featuring.

Marquez was beaten by works Honda MotoGP team-mate Dani Pedrosa as they both came from the back of the grid in a contest on Honda’s CBR250 Dream Cup one-make bikes, but Marquez was victorious in a short race in Honda

BPM/ist

N-One cars.

The duo also rode classic Honda NSR500 500cc world championship bikes from the 1984 and ‘85 seasons, used in period by riders such as Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner and Randy Mamola. (rtr)

8

International

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Sp rt

Benfica and Atletico Madrid slug it out to head Group C

TOUGH TO BEAT Atletico has gone unbeaten in 12 games, with much of the credit going to defender Diego Godin, who even opened the scoring in the team’s 2-0 win at Granada at the weekend.

“We have to continue along this

path,” the Uruguay international said.

“We are strong this way.”

Alongside Juanfran, Jose Maria Gimenez and Filipe Luis, Godin has enabled goalkeeper Jan Oblak to avoid conceding in his past six matches.

BENFICA’S NEW WEAPON Renato Sanches has become the player to watch at the Stadium of Light. The 18-year-old midfielder has started only twice for Benfica but the buzz around him was amplified with his first home goal last weekend — a thundering long-range shot that secured the club’s 3-0 win against Academica in the Portuguese league.

Sanches made his Champions League debut at Astana two weeks ago, and the crowd favorite is likely to start against Atletico.

Benfica will be without injured captain and central defender Luisao as well as winger Salvio and defender Nelson Semedo.

But Silvio should return to midfield where Ljubomir Fejsa is tipped

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that he wants to return to management at the start of next season and hinted that he would relish the chance to take charge of Manchester United in the future.

The three-times Champions League winner has been out of work since leaving Real Madrid in May after failing to win a major trophy at the Santiago Bernabeu last campaign, despite guiding the club to their 10th Champions League crown a season earlier.

But the Italian has said he will not be rushed into his next job and ruled himself out of taking charge of any club in the middle of the season.

“Of course, for every manager, they would all think of managing Manchester United,” Ancelotti told the Independent.

“But let us see next summer. I will not take a job in mid-season, but I would like to work again next summer. “If I don’t find a club with a good project, I can wait.”

Ancelotti, who won the Premier League title and the FA Cup with Chelsea in the 2009-10 season, also said he would like to return to the Premier League.

“I would like to come back in a club with a good project, but, of course, one that is competitive,” he said.

“The Premier League is the best in the sense of atmosphere, ambience.

It is also competitive, so I would like to come back, especially for the atmosphere.” (rtr)

to make way for Andreas Samaris.

IBERIAN BUSINESS Atletico and Benfica are rivals on the field, but off it they have had close connections in player transactions for more than 20 years.

The current Benfica team has four players who arrived from the Vicente Calderon stadium — Salvio, Silvio, Pizzi and Raul Jimenez.

Atletico has in recent years taken some of its best players from the Portuguese capital — Simao Sabrosa, for example, as well as Oblak. (ap)

mined by a public election and the scrutiny that comes with it,” CONCACAF said in a statement.

A vacancy opened when acting president Alfredo Hawit of Honduras was arrested in Zurich last Thursday on a U.S. Department of Justice request.

Hawit, a FIFA vice president, was among seven senior CONCACAF region officials in the latest DOJ indictment to rock soccer’s governing body and rip through its Latin American

AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza

Atletico’s Antoine Griezmann, celebrates with Koke, top, after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League Group C soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday Nov. 25, 2015.

leaders.

Previous CONCACAF presidents Jeffrey Webb of the Cayman Islands and Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago were charged in a first indictment published in May. Webb’s guilty plea to racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering charges was also unsealed last Thursday. He agreed to forfeit $6.7 million in bribes.

CONCACAF said its presidential election to formally replace Webb is scheduled on

GENEVA — Sepp Blatter is at risk again from the World Cup bribery scandal that tainted much of his FIFA presidency.

Switzerland’s justice ministry confirmed on Monday that American authorities formally asked for files in the ISL kickbacks case to aid their sprawling investigation of alleged racketeering by international soccer leaders.

The ISL marketing agency was found to have routinely bribed top sports officials, including Blatter’s predecessor Joao Havelange, before collapsing into criminal bankruptcy in 2001.

British broadcaster the BBC aired a program Monday alleging it had seen a letter obtained by the FBI that was written by Havelange and said Blatter had “full knowledge” of kickback payments in the 1990s. Blatter was Havelange’s general secretary for 17 years until becoming president in 1998.

Blatter would not comment on the BBC’s claim, his spokesman Klaus Stoehlker told The Associated Press on Monday. FIFA said it is cooperating to provide “all relevant information” to ongoing American and Swiss investigations, and would not comment on specific allegations.

The ISL case sent FIFA into

AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File

financial crisis, then dogged the governing body and Blatter through a criminal trial of six agency executives in 2008. A legal fight followed as FIFA tried to keep sealed the identity of officials named in a settlement deal to repay bribes.

Two years ago, FIFA finally declared the case closed after its ethics committee reviewed the case.

The ethics judgment confirmed three longtime executive committee members as bribe-takers: Havelange, who was FIFA president from 1974-1998, resigned as honorary president; his former

FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2014 file photo FIFA President Sepp Blatter gestures as he attends a news conference in Marrakech, Morocco. The FBI is investigating Blatter’s role in a kickbacks scandal that involved his predecessor as FIFA president, Joao Havelange, the BBC reported Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015.

son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil, who had resigned a year earlier; and Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay, who resigned as president of the South American confederation CONMEBOL. Crticizing Havelange and Teixeira for “morally and ethically reproachable” conduct, the ethics ruling of April 2013 also noted that commercial bribery was not illegal in Switzerland in the 1990s.

And Blatter’s behavior over the years did not amount to “any criminal or ethical misconduct,” ethics judge Joachim Eckert wrote. (ap)

Martinez lauds ‘established goalscorer’ Lukaku

After 3 presidents indicted, CONCACAF to lead by committee

MIAMI — The CONCACAF soccer body will go without a president until May after its past three leaders were indicted in the FIFA bribery case.

The North and Central American and Caribbean confederation said its executive committee decided Monday to have a collective leadership for five months and not appoint another interim president.

“In light of current events, it is critical that the confederation’s next president be deter-

9

Ancelotti eyes return Sepp Blatter at risk again from to dugout, keen on FIFA kickbacks scandal Man Utd job

LISBON, Portugal — Atletico Madrid and Benfica will have to slug it out at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon to see who emerges top the group and will therefore be more likely to avoid a top team in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The two are level on 10 points in Group C and the only thing separating them is that the Portuguese club has conceded four more goals.

However, Benfica won the clubs’ previous encounter 2-1 so a draw would see it finish top by virtue of a better head-to-head record.

Atletico arrives at Benfica in second-place in the Spanish league after a four-match winning streak and coach Diego Simeone’s will endeavor to keep the visitors motivated with his renowned pep talks.

Forward Antoine Griezmann will aim to increase his Champions League tally this season to five, while Fernando Torres will need few incentives as he is looking to crown his career by scoring an elusive 100th for Atletico.

International

May 12 in Mexico City, before the FIFA Congress there.

The 41-member nation region opted not to follow its own statutes Monday, which would have elevated senior vice president Justino Compean of Mexico to the top job.

“This interim leadership structure demonstrates the confederation’s (executive committee) unity and allows us to serve our Member Associations with a high level of efficiency, transparency, and accountabil-

ity,” Compean said in the CONCACAF statement.

The seven-member leadership panel also includes FIFA executive committee members Sunil Gulati of the U.S. and Sonia Bien-Aime of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The presidency of CONCACAF has become a notorious position during FIFA’s slide into crisis. (ap)

Action Images via Reuters / Alex Morton

Great Britain & Ireland XI manager Sir Alex Ferguson and World XI manager Carlo Ancelotti

Manager Roberto Martinez was left purring in appreciation after Romelu Lukaku scored his sixth goal in five consecutive Premier League games to rescue a point for Everton against Crystal Palace on Monday.

Lukaku marked his 100th appearance for Everton by scoring his 50th goal for the club from close range in the 81st minute to level the tie at 1-1 after Scott Dann put the visitors ahead from a corner.

Prior to his goal, the powerful Belgian twice hit the woodwork and tormented Palace’s defence all evening with his pace and trickery. The point was enough to send Palace into sixth place in the table, ahead of West Ham United and Liverpool on goal difference, with Everton a point adrift of them in ninth spot.

“Rom has been very consistent in the last 12 months.

He has scored 27 goals this calendar year and that is quite impressive,” Martinez told the club website (www.evertonfc.com).

“When you look at his overall development in the last 12 months -- and we know there is lots more to come at the age of 22 -- it makes you realise what a special footballer and special talent we have.

“It is not just talking about potential, I think it is fair to say we are talking about an established goalscorer, who has got an incredibly big responsibility in our team.

“He can control the moment. It was great to see him at the end of the move (for the goal), but we are disappointed we couldn’t get the three points.” Martinez bemoaned the lapse in concentration that led to Dann’s goal, but praised his side’s character for the way they harried Palace in search of the equaliser.

“I thought up until the moment we conceded we were

Action Images via Reuters / Andrew Boyers

Everton’s Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring their first goal

fantastic defensively. Crystal Palace are not always good on the eye but they are very effective,” Martinez said.

“They are so good away from home because they get the ball up the pitch very, very quickly with pace and power. I thought we anticipated that and we stopped their threat.

“The corner for the goal is a disappointment and I think it is more (about) concentration than anything else.

“We need to learn from it and get better, but our response, when Palace dropped even deeper, was fantastic.”(ap)

8

International

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Sp rt

Benfica and Atletico Madrid slug it out to head Group C

TOUGH TO BEAT Atletico has gone unbeaten in 12 games, with much of the credit going to defender Diego Godin, who even opened the scoring in the team’s 2-0 win at Granada at the weekend.

“We have to continue along this

path,” the Uruguay international said.

“We are strong this way.”

Alongside Juanfran, Jose Maria Gimenez and Filipe Luis, Godin has enabled goalkeeper Jan Oblak to avoid conceding in his past six matches.

BENFICA’S NEW WEAPON Renato Sanches has become the player to watch at the Stadium of Light. The 18-year-old midfielder has started only twice for Benfica but the buzz around him was amplified with his first home goal last weekend — a thundering long-range shot that secured the club’s 3-0 win against Academica in the Portuguese league.

Sanches made his Champions League debut at Astana two weeks ago, and the crowd favorite is likely to start against Atletico.

Benfica will be without injured captain and central defender Luisao as well as winger Salvio and defender Nelson Semedo.

But Silvio should return to midfield where Ljubomir Fejsa is tipped

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that he wants to return to management at the start of next season and hinted that he would relish the chance to take charge of Manchester United in the future.

The three-times Champions League winner has been out of work since leaving Real Madrid in May after failing to win a major trophy at the Santiago Bernabeu last campaign, despite guiding the club to their 10th Champions League crown a season earlier.

But the Italian has said he will not be rushed into his next job and ruled himself out of taking charge of any club in the middle of the season.

“Of course, for every manager, they would all think of managing Manchester United,” Ancelotti told the Independent.

“But let us see next summer. I will not take a job in mid-season, but I would like to work again next summer. “If I don’t find a club with a good project, I can wait.”

Ancelotti, who won the Premier League title and the FA Cup with Chelsea in the 2009-10 season, also said he would like to return to the Premier League.

“I would like to come back in a club with a good project, but, of course, one that is competitive,” he said.

“The Premier League is the best in the sense of atmosphere, ambience.

It is also competitive, so I would like to come back, especially for the atmosphere.” (rtr)

to make way for Andreas Samaris.

IBERIAN BUSINESS Atletico and Benfica are rivals on the field, but off it they have had close connections in player transactions for more than 20 years.

The current Benfica team has four players who arrived from the Vicente Calderon stadium — Salvio, Silvio, Pizzi and Raul Jimenez.

Atletico has in recent years taken some of its best players from the Portuguese capital — Simao Sabrosa, for example, as well as Oblak. (ap)

mined by a public election and the scrutiny that comes with it,” CONCACAF said in a statement.

A vacancy opened when acting president Alfredo Hawit of Honduras was arrested in Zurich last Thursday on a U.S. Department of Justice request.

Hawit, a FIFA vice president, was among seven senior CONCACAF region officials in the latest DOJ indictment to rock soccer’s governing body and rip through its Latin American

AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza

Atletico’s Antoine Griezmann, celebrates with Koke, top, after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League Group C soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday Nov. 25, 2015.

leaders.

Previous CONCACAF presidents Jeffrey Webb of the Cayman Islands and Jack Warner of Trinidad and Tobago were charged in a first indictment published in May. Webb’s guilty plea to racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering charges was also unsealed last Thursday. He agreed to forfeit $6.7 million in bribes.

CONCACAF said its presidential election to formally replace Webb is scheduled on

GENEVA — Sepp Blatter is at risk again from the World Cup bribery scandal that tainted much of his FIFA presidency.

Switzerland’s justice ministry confirmed on Monday that American authorities formally asked for files in the ISL kickbacks case to aid their sprawling investigation of alleged racketeering by international soccer leaders.

The ISL marketing agency was found to have routinely bribed top sports officials, including Blatter’s predecessor Joao Havelange, before collapsing into criminal bankruptcy in 2001.

British broadcaster the BBC aired a program Monday alleging it had seen a letter obtained by the FBI that was written by Havelange and said Blatter had “full knowledge” of kickback payments in the 1990s. Blatter was Havelange’s general secretary for 17 years until becoming president in 1998.

Blatter would not comment on the BBC’s claim, his spokesman Klaus Stoehlker told The Associated Press on Monday. FIFA said it is cooperating to provide “all relevant information” to ongoing American and Swiss investigations, and would not comment on specific allegations.

The ISL case sent FIFA into

AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File

financial crisis, then dogged the governing body and Blatter through a criminal trial of six agency executives in 2008. A legal fight followed as FIFA tried to keep sealed the identity of officials named in a settlement deal to repay bribes.

Two years ago, FIFA finally declared the case closed after its ethics committee reviewed the case.

The ethics judgment confirmed three longtime executive committee members as bribe-takers: Havelange, who was FIFA president from 1974-1998, resigned as honorary president; his former

FILE - In this Dec. 19, 2014 file photo FIFA President Sepp Blatter gestures as he attends a news conference in Marrakech, Morocco. The FBI is investigating Blatter’s role in a kickbacks scandal that involved his predecessor as FIFA president, Joao Havelange, the BBC reported Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015.

son-in-law Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil, who had resigned a year earlier; and Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay, who resigned as president of the South American confederation CONMEBOL. Crticizing Havelange and Teixeira for “morally and ethically reproachable” conduct, the ethics ruling of April 2013 also noted that commercial bribery was not illegal in Switzerland in the 1990s.

And Blatter’s behavior over the years did not amount to “any criminal or ethical misconduct,” ethics judge Joachim Eckert wrote. (ap)

Martinez lauds ‘established goalscorer’ Lukaku

After 3 presidents indicted, CONCACAF to lead by committee

MIAMI — The CONCACAF soccer body will go without a president until May after its past three leaders were indicted in the FIFA bribery case.

The North and Central American and Caribbean confederation said its executive committee decided Monday to have a collective leadership for five months and not appoint another interim president.

“In light of current events, it is critical that the confederation’s next president be deter-

9

Ancelotti eyes return Sepp Blatter at risk again from to dugout, keen on FIFA kickbacks scandal Man Utd job

LISBON, Portugal — Atletico Madrid and Benfica will have to slug it out at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon to see who emerges top the group and will therefore be more likely to avoid a top team in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The two are level on 10 points in Group C and the only thing separating them is that the Portuguese club has conceded four more goals.

However, Benfica won the clubs’ previous encounter 2-1 so a draw would see it finish top by virtue of a better head-to-head record.

Atletico arrives at Benfica in second-place in the Spanish league after a four-match winning streak and coach Diego Simeone’s will endeavor to keep the visitors motivated with his renowned pep talks.

Forward Antoine Griezmann will aim to increase his Champions League tally this season to five, while Fernando Torres will need few incentives as he is looking to crown his career by scoring an elusive 100th for Atletico.

International

May 12 in Mexico City, before the FIFA Congress there.

The 41-member nation region opted not to follow its own statutes Monday, which would have elevated senior vice president Justino Compean of Mexico to the top job.

“This interim leadership structure demonstrates the confederation’s (executive committee) unity and allows us to serve our Member Associations with a high level of efficiency, transparency, and accountabil-

ity,” Compean said in the CONCACAF statement.

The seven-member leadership panel also includes FIFA executive committee members Sunil Gulati of the U.S. and Sonia Bien-Aime of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The presidency of CONCACAF has become a notorious position during FIFA’s slide into crisis. (ap)

Action Images via Reuters / Alex Morton

Great Britain & Ireland XI manager Sir Alex Ferguson and World XI manager Carlo Ancelotti

Manager Roberto Martinez was left purring in appreciation after Romelu Lukaku scored his sixth goal in five consecutive Premier League games to rescue a point for Everton against Crystal Palace on Monday.

Lukaku marked his 100th appearance for Everton by scoring his 50th goal for the club from close range in the 81st minute to level the tie at 1-1 after Scott Dann put the visitors ahead from a corner.

Prior to his goal, the powerful Belgian twice hit the woodwork and tormented Palace’s defence all evening with his pace and trickery. The point was enough to send Palace into sixth place in the table, ahead of West Ham United and Liverpool on goal difference, with Everton a point adrift of them in ninth spot.

“Rom has been very consistent in the last 12 months.

He has scored 27 goals this calendar year and that is quite impressive,” Martinez told the club website (www.evertonfc.com).

“When you look at his overall development in the last 12 months -- and we know there is lots more to come at the age of 22 -- it makes you realise what a special footballer and special talent we have.

“It is not just talking about potential, I think it is fair to say we are talking about an established goalscorer, who has got an incredibly big responsibility in our team.

“He can control the moment. It was great to see him at the end of the move (for the goal), but we are disappointed we couldn’t get the three points.” Martinez bemoaned the lapse in concentration that led to Dann’s goal, but praised his side’s character for the way they harried Palace in search of the equaliser.

“I thought up until the moment we conceded we were

Action Images via Reuters / Andrew Boyers

Everton’s Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring their first goal

fantastic defensively. Crystal Palace are not always good on the eye but they are very effective,” Martinez said.

“They are so good away from home because they get the ball up the pitch very, very quickly with pace and power. I thought we anticipated that and we stopped their threat.

“The corner for the goal is a disappointment and I think it is more (about) concentration than anything else.

“We need to learn from it and get better, but our response, when Palace dropped even deeper, was fantastic.”(ap)

10

Destination

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

International

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

International

Hornets close on division lead as Heat loses to Wizards CHARLOTTE — Charlotte moved within half a game of the NBA Southeast Division lead with a 104-84 win over Detroit on Monday while division leader Miami was beaten at home by Washington.

Raja Ampat; Divers paradise

PAPUA - The roaring engines fixed to a large wooden boat are finally quiet. Nothing can be heard but the rifting little waves, lapping against the vibrant paint on the sides of the vessel that gracefully slows down. Native birds hop on the tip of a small tree in one of the deserted islands in the distance.

Raja Ampat or ‘Four Kings’, is the name given to these islands and comes from a local myth. The four major islands found here are Waigeo, Misool (which is home to ancient rock paintings), Salawati, and Batanta.

Underwater enthusiasts flock to this region because it offers the world’s best marine sights. Two days earlier, some of these travelers had been at a deafening corner of a tourist trap in Bali. Once they took their flight to the bird head of the island of Papua everything changed as they embarked on a diving tour of a lifetime. In the Raja Ampat

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islands, divers can explore vertical underwater walls. The thrill of drift diving is another great challenge.

These are the awesome experiences you will find in Raja Ampat.

Meanwhile, on this tour several divers were well equipped and looked advanced. The territory within the islands of the Four Kings is enormous, covering 9.8 million acres of land and sea, home to 540 types of corals, more than 1,000 types of coral fish and 700 types of mollusks. This makes it the most diverse living library for world’s coral reef and underwater biota. According to a report developed by The Nature Conservancy and Conservation International, around 75% of the world’s species live here. When divers first arrive here their excitement is palpable.

It’s common to hear people praise God as they take in the remarkable scenery. Others prefer to remain in silence taking in the overwhelming

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sight of so many islands with crystal clear water that softly brushes over the white sandy beaches.

“Disini bagus!”, says the friendly local guide who had been appointed by the tour operator who runs an eco-lodge in Raja Ampat, indicating that they have arrived at one of the most fantastic diving sites. On other days, this guide is just a simple fisherman. The local fishermen here are accustomed to foreigners and are friendly, especially when offered pinang (betel nuts) or some sweet candies. These are very popular and offering these sweets is considered polite and a good way to win an instant smile.

The fishermen usually eat this snack during Para-para Pinang, or social chatting and exchanging funny stories while chewing Pinang. In many respects, like nature, culture, and history, these fishermen are closer to the Moluccas. (www.indonesia.travel)

IBP/Courtesy of www.indonesia.travel AP Photo/Chuck Burton

Travel Tips

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Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond (0) blocks a shot by Charlotte Hornets’ Kemba Walker (15) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Dec. 7, 2015.

Cody Zeller scored 20 points for the Hornets, who have won seven of nine to climb up the standings. Miami’s Chris Bosh was ejected as the Heat was defeated by Detroit, costing the Florida team the overall lead in the Eastern Conference, which was taken by idle Cleveland.

In another key result, Dallas survived a withering finish by New York to beat the Knicks on their home court. Charlotte’s Marvin Williams scored 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Kemba Walker had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who won the rebound tally 57-41 despite the absence of injured center Al Jefferson.

The Pistons, who had won their previous four games, were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 16 points.

Washington’s John Wall scored 26 points one night after leaving a game with a sore knee, leading the Wizards to a 114-103 win at Miami.

Gary Neal added 21 including a debated 3-pointer with just over a minute left, with Miami claiming

Bradley Beal had traveled on the play. Neal’s 3 put the Wizards up by five points and effectively sealed the result.

Bosh was ejected soon after for arguing calls and non-calls; the second ejection of his 13-year career.

Dwyane Wade led Miami with 26 points. Dallas survived a comeback attempt sparked by Kristaps Porzingis and won 104-97 at New York.

Porzingis finished with 28 points in his first matchup with Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, the German great he has been compared to for his perimeter shooting skills by a 7-footer.

Nowitzki scored 25 points.

The Latvian rookie made consecutive 3-pointers as the Knicks cut what had been a 23-point deficit to 101-97 with 43 seconds left, then blocked Deron Williams’ shot. But Carmelo Anthony was called for an offensive foul as the Knicks were trying to get the ball to Porzingis for another shot, and Nowitzki followed with a free throw before Williams made two more to close it out.

Los Angeles’ DeAndre Jordan

had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lift the Clippers to a 110-106 win at Minnesota and their fifth victory in six games.

The Clippers trailed 98-95 with a minute to play, but Jordan threw down an alley-oop and then blocked a shot. Blake Griffin scored on a layup for a 99-98 lead with 25 seconds to play. The Clippers won a free throw shooting contest to close it out.

Griffin had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Paul made a surprise return to the lineup after missing the previous two games with a rib injury. Los Angeles went 26 for 29 at the free throw line and even Jordan was 4 of 6.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range for the Timberwolves.

Phoenix came from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to stun Chicago and win 103-101. Mirza Teletovic scored 21 points, including a follow basket with 0.3 seconds left, to cap the victory.

Brandon Knight had 17 of his 21 points in the fourth to snap a four-game skid. The Suns outscored Chicago 42-24 in the final period.

Pau Gasol scored 22 points to lead the Bulls. (ap)

Alonso tries Honda MotoGP bike at Motegi IOC to hear from Rio organizers amid budget cuts, recession LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The president is facing impeachment proceedings. The economy is in free fall. The country is reeling from a wide-ranging corruption scandal. Such is the grim backdrop in Brazil as organizers of next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro prepare to make their latest progress report to the IOC. With eight months until the opening ceremony, the final stretch of Olympic preparations is taking place amid political and financial turmoil in Brazil.The nation’s worst recession since the 1930s is already having an impact on the games: The organizing committee budget is being slashed and leading to cuts in services — including discussions about whether the athletes will have free air conditioning in their rooms.

Rio organizers are traveling to Lausanne for this week’s three-day meeting of the International Olympic Committee executive board, which starts Tuesday. While concerns over construction delays in Rio have eased over the past year, organizing committee chief Carlos Nuzman will be under pressure to reassure the IOC that the economic and political crises won’t derail planning for South America’s first Olympics, which open on Aug. 5, 2016.

When Rio was awarded the games seven years ago, Brazil was riding high as an emerging giant with a booming economy. Now, Latin America’s largest economy is sinking — the real has lost a third of its value this year, gross domestic product has tumbled, inflation is nearing 10 percent and unemployment has soared to nearly 8 percent. The downturn comes with Brazil mired in a massive kickback scandal centered on Petrobras, the giant state-run oil company. (ap)

McLaren Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso tried a Honda MotoGP bike alongside Marc Marquez at Honda’s end-of-season ‘Thanks Day’ event at Motegi on Sunday.

Alonso had a brief run on the production specification Honda RC213V used in MotoGP’s Open class by the likes of Nicky Hayden, Jack Miller and Eugene Laverty this season, riding beside a Honda NSX Concept GT car driven by Marquez. The two Spanish legends also swapped helmets at the end of their demonstration run.

In addition to his MotoGP experience and laps in Honda road and GT cars, Alonso drove the McLaren-Honda MP4/6 used by Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger in the 1991 F1 season.

F1 driver turned IndyCar race winner Takuma Sato was part of the event as well, with his duties including laps in Honda’s 1968 RA301 F1 car.

They were joined by a large contingent from Honda’s motorcycle competition and Japanese domestic racing programmes, with

Fernando Alonso exhibition races also featuring.

Marquez was beaten by works Honda MotoGP team-mate Dani Pedrosa as they both came from the back of the grid in a contest on Honda’s CBR250 Dream Cup one-make bikes, but Marquez was victorious in a short race in Honda

BPM/ist

N-One cars.

The duo also rode classic Honda NSR500 500cc world championship bikes from the 1984 and ‘85 seasons, used in period by riders such as Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner and Randy Mamola. (rtr)

6

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

W

RLD

International

Slovakia amends constitution after Paris attacks

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — The Slovak Parliament has amended the constitution to give authorities more powers to deal with terror suspects following the attacks in Paris.

In a 95-25 vote Tuesday, the lawmakers agreed to double the time such a suspect can be detained, from 48 to 96 hours. The amendment also extends to six days the time during which a judge has to decide whether a terror suspect will be kept in detention or released.

The measures are part of a package of legislation presented to parliament by the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico.

They also include changes in the penal code that give increased powers to the intelligence services and police force. A vote is expected later Tuesday but the government has a sufficient majority to approve them. (ap)

AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, standing, gives instructions to members, foreground, of a newly-established international terrorism information collection unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015.

Japan launches anti-terrorism unit ahead of summit, Olympics

TOKYO — Japan launched a new counterterrorism unit in an air of secrecy Tuesday, with journalists only allowed to photograph its 24 members from behind.

The country is expanding its international espionage work after being shocked by the deaths of five Japanese citizens at the hands of Islamic militants this year. The recent Paris attacks have also raised fears ahead of a Group of Seven summit in Japan next year and the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.

It’s mostly uncharted territory for Japan, which has never suffered a terror attack by outsiders in its modern history.

“The country is inexperienced, and its counterterrorism capability is untested,” said Motonobu Abekawa, a former official at the Public Security Intelligence Agency and a terrorism studies expert at Nihon University. “People have long thought terrorist attacks are a distant problem abroad.”

Japan began exploring ways to boost public safety and intelligence after the Islamic State group killed two Japanese hostages in Syria early this year. An attack on tourists at a museum in Tunisia later claimed three more Japanese lives.

During the hostage crisis, Japan often appeared at a loss for quality intelligence. Japanese agents

should develop their own sources so they don’t have to rely on U.S. or British agents for information, Abekawa said. “I hope eventually they can be counterparts of MI6 or the CIA,” he said.

The new Counterterrorism Unit-Japan includes staff from the foreign and defense ministries, the National Police Agency and the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, Japan’s version of the CIA. Initially made up of four leaders and 20 Tokyo-based experts focusing on Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and north and western Africa, it eventually is to also include 20 intelligence officers assigned to overseas posts, possibly in Amman, Cairo, Jakarta and New Delhi.

News photographers covering the launch were told they couldn’t show the faces of the team, only their backs, as they sat in rows of plastic chairs in the prime minister’s office. Japan has no institute to train intelligence agents, so they will have to learn on the job.

“Japan is still a novice in counterterrorism measures, and there

are lots of blind spots,” said Koichi Oizumi, an expert on risk management and terrorism at Aomori Chuo Gakuin University. “The biggest concern is intelligence gathering. There is a serious shortage of experts who can gather real intelligence and analyze it.”

In its annual security report published Monday, the National Police Agency stressed the need to raise alert levels for next year’s G-7 summit in western Japan because it could be “a perfect target” amid escalating extremist attacks in Europe and the Middle East.

Last month’s Paris attacks prompted splashy stories about potential targets in Tokyo in weekly magazines. A “Tokyo terror target map” in one included a popular electronics district, an upscale shopping mall during the Christmas season and a major shrine.

Japan plans to obtain passenger information from airlines, install body scanners at major airports and step up identification of foreign visitors at hotels. A new police unit will search for Internet content related to extremist groups. (ap)

4 French soldiers questioned in African child rape case PARIS — Officials say four French soldiers are being questioned in an investigation into alleged child rape in Central African Republic.

The national gendarme service official says that the soldiers are being questioned on Tuesday, but is not indicating whether they are being treated as suspects or witnesses. A judicial official says they are being questioned in Paris. The officials aren’t authorized to be publicly named.

French authorities opened an investigation in 2014 into accusations that French troops raped or sexually abused several children in Central African Republic. The French military intervened there in late 2013 to protect civilians from sectarian violence. The accusations weren’t made public until much later, prompting international dismay and questions about how France and the U.N. handled the case. (ap)

International

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

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From page 1

The number of visitors from Australia grew by only 0.9 percent to 820,802 in the January-October period of 2015 from 812,723 people in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the number of visitors from China grew 20.55 percent to 601,340. A strong growth of 18.54 percent to 108,532 was recorded in the number of visitors from the United States amid the global crisis still besetting that country.

Observers are optimistic that Bali would reach its target in number of foreign visitors at 4 million this year based on the trend so far. (ant)

ACCESSORIES

MENYAMBUT NATAL & TAHUN BARU

Saudi court reopens case of Sri Lanka woman sentenced to die

COLOMBO — A Sri Lankan government minister says a Saudi court has decided to reopen the case of a Sri Lankan woman who was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.

Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva told parliament Tuesday that an appeals court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, has decided to hear the case again following pleas by Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry.

De Silva said, “We see this as a victory,” adding that the ministry will bear all the legal expenses of reopening the case and “make the fullest efforts in order to get this sentence changed.”

The 45-year-old married woman, who was working as a maid in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to death in August. The unmarried Sri Lankan man convicted alongside her was sentenced to 100 lashes. (ap)

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12

International

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

International

BUSINESS

Indonesia Today

5

President, VP to report Novanto to police

Asian markets fall on oil price plunge, China trade data

HONG KONG - Oil prices struggled at seven-year lows Tuesday, sending Asian energy firms plunging in line with their US and European counterparts after OPEC’s decision to maintain output dimmed hopes for a recovery in the black gold.

Another tumble in Chinese imports and exports exacerbated the decline on regional markets, reinforcing worries about the state of the world economy at the same time as Washington considers raising US interest rates.

A global supply glut, weak demand and the growth slowdown in China have combined with soaring production to send crude slumping more than 60 percent over the past 18 months.

Investors had been hoping that with the market becoming increasingly tight, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could find a way to ease output and release some pressure on prices.

However, the cartel’s six-monthly meeting Friday ended without agreement between bickering members to make any cuts, which in turn battered global markets.

On Monday US benchmark West Texas Intermediate sank 5.8 percent and Brent crude shed 5.3 percent -- hitting levels not seen since February 2009. WTI had tumbled 2.7 percent and Brent lost 1.9 percent Friday.

US giant ExxonMobil, France’s Total and Italy’s Eni all fell between two and three percent, with many smaller producers and oil-services companies suffering even bigger drops.

And Asian firms continued those losses as crude failed to recover. Hong Kong-listed Chinese giant CNOOC was down 4.3 percent, while PetroChina was off more than one percent in Shanghai.

Mining giant BHP Billiton dived more than five percent in Sydney, while Rio Tinto was off 4.3 percent.

Woodside lost four percent and Oil Search plunged more than 16 percent after Woodside dropped a multibillion-dollar bid for the latter without explanation.

Santos, which has a joint venture with Oil Search in a massive PNG gas project, saw its shares crash 13.1 percent.

Japan’s Inpex was off five percent while JX Holdings lost 3.7 percent.

Among Asian stock markets, Tokyo and Sydney lost around one percent, Shanghai fell 1.9 percent and Hong Kong was off 1.8 percent.

“Market focus at the moment is the potential deflationary effects of lower oil prices, and the signalling that aggregate demand is weak,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.

Commodity-linked currencies took a hit from the falls, with Malaysia’s ringgit down one percent and the Australian dollar losing 0.1 percent.

In China, investors were hit by another round of weak trade data indicating the world’s number two economy and key driver of global growth is heading for its worst year in a quarter-century.

“Fading exports remain a main drag on the slowing economy, adding downward pressure on the yuan and increasing the likelihood of further easing,” Bloomberg economists Fielding Chen and Tom Orlik wrote in a note.

“The hope is that the recovery in the global economy in 2016 may extend some help to China’s exports.” (afp)

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

AP Photo/Trisnadi

Boys look at a life-sized model of popular Japanese animation character “Doraemon” on display during an exhibition titled “100 Doraemon Secret Gadgets Expo” in Surabaya, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. Doraemon, a blue robotic cat from the 22nd century, is popular in many parts of the world, including Asia and Latin America. It has a four-dimensional pocket in its stomach with a seemingly endless supply of items to help its friends.

AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File

In this Oct. 21, 2015 file photo, workers watch shipping and discharging of containers at a port in Tokyo.

Japan’s economy grew at an annual 1.0 percent pace in the July to September quarter, according to revised data that indicates the country dodged a recession.

Japan sidesteps recession, revised growth at 1 percent

TOKYO — Japan sidestepped recession last quarter: Revised data released Tuesday showed its economy grew at an annual 1.0 percent pace instead of shrinking.

A previous estimate had shown the world’s third-largest economy contracted 0.8 percent in the July-September quarter, after shrinking 0.5 percent in the previous quarter. Two consecutive quarters of contraction are considered a recession.

The revised growth figure makes it less likely that Japan’s central bank will deploy further monetary stimulus anytime soon, despite slow progress toward its goal of 2 percent inflation.

The data show stronger corporate investment and a slightly higher pace of growth in exports than earlier reported.

But the major change was an upward revision in inventories to 1.5 trillion yen ($12.2 billion) from a preliminary estimate that inventories fell 1.9 trillion yen ($15.4 billion). That may not auger well for future growth if manufacturers are overshooting demand from companies and consumers.

“Actually, relative to the impressive gain in income, private domestic demand ... remains quite low,” Masamichi Adachi of JPMorgan said in a research note. He described the inventories situation as a “wild card.”

On a quarterly basis the economy

expanded 0.3 percent from the previous quarter instead of contracting 0.2 percent as the earlier estimate showed.

Economists are forecasting about 1.5 percent growth in the current quarter.

Japanese companies are investing heavily overseas while holding back on wage increases and factory upgrades at home, despite repeated entreaties by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to do more to help the recovery along.

Foreign companies, likewise, have not heeded Abe’s efforts to attract more investment. Data reported Tuesday showed total foreign direct investment in the past year was only 4 billion yen ($32.5 million), less than 0.001 percent of its GDP. (ap)

JAKARTA - A member of the Parliament Honorary Tribunal (MKD), Akbar Faisal, said he had information that both President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla would report House Speaker Setya Novanto to police.

“I heard the President and Vice President would report Setya Novanto to police on charge of illegally using their names for personal gain,” Akbar Faisal said.

“I just heard that information, and I fully supports the move,” he said in a short text message here on Tuesday without naming his source. On Monday Novanto denied all charges against hims before the MDK in a closed door session.

Earlier, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said reported Novanto to the MDK with transcript accusing him of asking for a share in PT Freeport Indonesia in exchange of support for its bid to secure approval for contract extension.

The U.S. company, which has large copper and gold mines in Papua, is seeking extension of its contract which will expire in 2021.

The transcript of conversation between Novanto and his business friend Riza Chalid and Freeport President Director Maroef Sjamsuddin said that the House Speaker used the name of the president and vice president to convince Freeport that the contract would be extended.

The MKD already summoned Sudirman Said and Ma’roef for questioning in an open session broadcast live by television.

Jokowi was said to have been furious about the session questioning Novanto being closed to the media and the attempts of Novanto’s supporters in MKD to play down the seriousness of the charge against him .

“It does not matter that I am called crazy, insane or hard headed, but when it concerns the institutional authority, misusing the name of President for a 11 percent share (in Freeport), that, I could not accept. This is a matter of propriety and morality,” he said on Monday. Earlier Jusuf Kalla said Novanto has been involved in criminal conspiracy. (ant)

Novanto denies Freeport extortion claim

JAKARTA — The embattled speaker of Indonesia’s House of Representatives denied Monday that he demanded a stake worth billions of dollars in a giant U.S.-owned gold and copper mine in exchange for allegedly helping it extend its operating contract.

House speaker Setya Novanto and a businessman ally are accused of falsely using the names of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla to seek shares in PT Freeport Indonesia.

The two allegedly met in June with Freeport Indonesia chief executive Maroef Sjamsoeddin and asked for a 20 percent stake — 11 percent for Jokowi and the rest for Kalla — in return for an early extension of the company’s operations in Indonesia.

Jokowi denied any involvement and expressed anger Monday at Novanto’s alleged actions.

The case has dominated news in Indonesia for several weeks and is seen as one of the biggest political scandals in years. The country has taken a variety of steps toward democracy, but is still one of the most corrupt in Asia.

In an investigation, Parliament’s Ethics Council questioned Sjamsoeddin and Energy and Mining Minister Sudirman Said in a hearing last Thursday broadcast on national

television. However, on Monday it questioned Novanto behind closed doors, disappointing hundreds of journalists and spectators waiting outside the meeting room.

In comments from Monday’s hearing circulated among journalists, Novanto denied the accusation and said a secret recording of the June conversation made by the Freeport executive was illegal because it was done without his permission.

“This is an illegal recording, and I object to it being used as evidence,” Novanto told the Ethics Council.

In his testimony last Thursday, Sjamsoeddin indicated that Novanto, from the opposition Golkar Party, had attempted to extort the company’s shares.

Sjamsoeddin said he recorded the conversation because of suspicions about the subject of discussion and the presence of Muhammad Riza Chalid, an oil and gas businessman.

The 80-minute recording, played at the hearing, shocked many Indonesians. In it, Novanto and Chalid apparently attempt to convince the Freeport executive that they could ensure the company’s contract would be extended from 2021 to 2041 because of their influence and Novanto’s close connections with a Jokowi aide.

“I felt uncomfortable about the conversation because it was inappropriate,” Sjamsoeddin told the Ethics Council. He said he decided to report the conversation to his superiors and the government.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Said reported Novanto to the Ethics Council last month and provided it with a transcript of the conversation.

Freeport has agreed to divest 30 percent of its Indonesian unit as part of its investment agreement with the government. It has asked for an extension of its current contract, which ends in 2021, before investing billions of dollars more at its Grasberg mine.

Security Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan told reporters last week that the government would not speed up the extension of Freeport’s contract because regulations say ne-

AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana

Indonesian House Speaker Setya Novanto, center, leaves after attending the Parliament’s Ethics Council hearing in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. gotiations can only begin two years before the contract ends.

Grasberg, located in troubled Papua province, is one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines. It has experienced frequent violent protests by workers, while

activist groups have complained of alleged pollution and unfair distribution of profits.

It is run by Phoenix, Arizonabased Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and produces around 220,000 tons of ore per day. (ap)

4

Bali News

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

International

International

Passenger apprehended for carrying bomblike object DENPASAR - A 48 year old Qatar Airways passenger headed from Denpasar to Doha, was arrested by Denpasar Police, on Sunday (Dec. 6). The case is still being investigated by the Denpasar Police Criminal Investigation and the suspect with the initials FD is being examined intensively.

Chief of the Denpasar Police Criminal Investigation, Reinhard, accompanied by Spokesperson Hery Wiyanto said on Monday (Dec. 7), that based on a report made to the Air Zone Police last Sunday, the Qatar Airways flight number Q963, the passenger was carrying an object suspected of being an explosive.

“An AVSEC security guard, said that FD who holds a British passport was first taken aside after his luggage passed throughout the X-ray machine at the international departures of Ngurah Rai Airport,” said Reinhard.

On Sunday around 4:00 p.m. FD checked in at the Qatar Airways counter. He then showed an object resembling a bomb to an security guard named Ngakan Putu Negara. “The reported (FD—Ed) asked whether the object was allowed to be carried on board. Ngakan answered saying that it was allowed,” explained Reinhard.

FD and the item were then brought to an X-ray device to be checked. The bomb like object was secured by security guard Nur Afni while FD and his companion were permitted to proceed with the check-in process.

“As the plane was about to take off, the airport tower officials instructed the plane remain grounded and FD and his companion were told to leave the plane to be checked by the airport security guards,” said the Police chief.

According to what FD told the officer who questioned him, the suspicious item had been purchased at a store on Jalan Laksamana, Seminyak, North Kuta. Chief of the Denpasar Police, Anak Agung Sudana and a mobile criminal investigation team then went to the store to corroborate his story. One similar item was found at the store and was immediately handed over to the police.

“The store owner and his assistant have been summoned for questioning. Currently, the investigators are still investigating witnesses and the suspect is being examined accompanied by an interpreter. The bomb-like object has been secured as evidence,” confirmed Reinhard. (kmb36)

Workers install a Christmas tree on display outside a shopping mall in a heavy pollution haze in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015. Schools closed and rushhour roads were much quieter than normal as Beijing invoked its first-ever red alert for smog Tuesday, closing many factories and imposing restrictions to keep half the city’s vehicles off the roads.

The preparation for the election is seen in the picture.

IBP/Yudi Karnaedi

Denpasar mayoral election 2015

Electoral Commission targets 77.5 percent voter turnout

DENPASAR - The Denpasar mayoral election will be held today and the Electoral Commission is aiming for a 77.5 percent voter turnout. Chairman of the Denpasar Electoral Commission, I Gede John Darmawan explained that based on previous experience, there is a 35 percent abstention rate.

Gede John Darmawan recently said that the Electorial Commission has been taking steps to increase voter turnout in the mayoral election of Denpasar through various means of getting information out to the public about the importance of voting.

“We have held different types of activities aimed at encouraging people to be use their

right to vote. Such activities include sporting events and other socio-cultural events that gather people together,” explained Darmawan.

He emphasized that without the support of the community, all of the programs that have been carried out will onto be able to achieve their objective. Denpasar’s popula-

tion of 422,294 has therefore been continuously invited to use their right to vote.

Darmawan gave as an example a fun walk that was organized by the Eletoral Commission on Saturday, in which information about the logistics of the mayoral election of Denpasar was given out to the public. The distribution was implemented in two subdistricts: South Denpasar and West Denpasar. The campaigning period for the mayoral candidates is now closed and all banners posters and the like have been taken down. (kmb12)

DGT releases a delinquent foreigner DENPASAR - The Directorate General of Taxation (DGT) is taking firm action against taxes delinquents, including foreigners.

Not long ago the DGT held a foreign citizen with the initials RJD who had been serving as the tax guarantor for two local businesses PT. LB and PT. WN. Both of these companies are listed in the Primary Tax Office (KPP) of North Badung,

but were detained at the Bangli Detention House.

“However, on Friday (Dec. 4), both taxpayers paid their tax debts.

In accordance with statutory provisions, after paying off ones tax debt, a taxpayers can be released,” said Chief of the KPP North Badung, Ni Ketut Sriani, on Saturday (Dec. 5).

Sriani explained that according to Law No.19/1997 on tax billing

by distress warrant (PPSP), as amended by Law No.19/2000, by which temporary retraints of liberty may be placed on tax guarantors, by holding them ‘hostage’ but this can only be done to tax guarantors whose debts is of at least one hundred million rupiah and whose good faith in paying the tax debt is in doubt. “‘Hostaging’ is carried out for a

maximum of six months and may be extended for another six months and held in custody pursuant to the ‘decree of hostage’ issued by the Head of the KPP after obtaining written permission from the Minister of Finance or the Governor,” he explained.

Head of DGT Bali, Wahju K. Tumakaka, asserted that tax collection in principle is conducted

with respect to the good faith of taxpayers to settle their tax debts.

By showing a sign of good faith in genuinely attempting to pay off a tax debt, “hard collections” and “hostaging” can be avoided.

“Communication with the KPP in regards to efforts to settle their tax debt is the first measure that taxpayers can take to being cooperative,” affirmed Tumakala. (kmb32)

Beijing schools close as some residents take smog holiday

BEIJING — Some residents took a smog holiday away from Beijing on Tuesday as the Chinese capital launched restrictions under its first red alert for pollution, closing schools, suspending factories and keeping half the vehicles off the streets.

Although Beijing has in recent years seen smog at much worse levels than Tuesday’s, the latest bout of pollution was the first to trigger a red alert under a 2-year-old system that requires a forecast at the outset of at least 72 hours of consecutive high pollution.

The capital’s hazardous smog has persisted despite the Chinese government’s stated priority of cleaning up the legacy of pollution left from years of full-tilt economic growth. Most of the smog is blamed on coal-fired power plants, along with vehicle emissions, construction and factory work.

“This is modern life for Beijing people. We wanted to develop, and now we pay the price,” Beijing office worker Cao Yong said during a break from work. A grey soupy haze subsumed Beijing’s unique landmarks, convenience stores sold air-filtering masks at brisk rates and health-food stores promoted pear juice as a traditional Chinese tonic for the lungs.

“And air purifiers at home are a must,” Beijing resident Sun Yuanyuan said at a downtown Beijing juice shop.

Under restrictions in effect Tuesday through Thursday, schools were urged to close voluntarily unless they had good air filtration. However, Beijing’s education commission later

followed up with a separate order for schools to close during the three-day alert. Some residents grumbled about the inconvenience, and a few international schools sought permission to reopen Wednesday.

A slew of Beijingers said via social media they planned to escape the gloom. They needed to travel relatively far, however, because nearly all of China’s northeast was affected, and many cities — including nearby Shijiazhuang — were even worse than Beijing.

After hearing of the school closings late Monday, Beijing mother Jiang Xia booked tickets for a 3,200 kilometer (2,000-mile) flight to the relatively clean southwestern city of Kunming, for herself and her 8-year-old daughter who she said suffers nosebleeds in the smog. She said in an interview from Kunming that they hectically packed before dawn Tuesday for their flight.

“But when we arrived in Kunming and breathed in this clean, fresh air, I was very glad I made this move — a very wise decision,” Jiang said.

Readings of PM2.5 particles climbed above 300 micrograms per cubic meter in some parts of the city Tuesday and were expected to continue rising before improving Thursday. The World Health Orga-

nization designates the safe level for the tiny, poisonous particles at 25.

Factory suspensions and several other restrictions will seek to reduce the dust and other particulate matter in the city of 22.5 million people.

Use of a car is restricted to every other day depending on its license plate, and officials planned to deploy extra subway trains and buses to compensate. Some businesses closed and others said employees could work from home for the duration.

A Beijing resident who gave his only his surname, Du, said he was taking advantage of a lack of crowds near the capital’s ancient Forbidden City to stroll and take unique photographs.

“I like this kind of haziness. It gives a blurry feeling and makes you feel like you’re in a dream,” Du said.

While the capital’s air improved in the first 10 months of the year compared with the same period last year, it has suffered two recent prolonged bouts of severe smog, which is typically worse in the winter and which last time sent PM 2.5 level as high as 976 in some locations.

A red alert requires a forecast of 72 straight hours of pollution levels of 300 or higher on the city’s air quality index. The index is closely linked to levels of PM2.5, although it also includes other pollutants. As an example, one Beijing monitoring site at midday showed an index reading of 308 and a PM2.5 reading of 258.(ap)

13

Putin’s foe Khodorkovsky summoned for questioning

MOSCOW — In an unexpected renewal of a feud between the Kremlin and Russia’s former richest man, exiled tycoon and exprisoner Mikhail Khodorkovsky was summoned for questioning in Moscow on Tuesday.

Khodorkovsky posted on social media a copy of the summons, which was delivered to the Moscow home of his 82-year-old father, who was himself questioned by investigators in August about the 1998 killing of a Siberian mayor.

Investigators announced in June that they were reopening the probe into the slaying of Vladimir Petukhov and considered Khodorkovsky a prime suspect. Khodorkovsky and his associates have denied involvement in the killing in Nefteyugansk, the town where his company, Yukos, was headquartered at the time.

Khodorkovsky on his personal Twitter account described the summons as a “feeble attempt to change the subject” in a reference to a recent anti-corruption investigation which pointed at top Russian prosecutors.

The tycoon’s spokeswoman, Olga Pispanen said that Khodorkovsky “has no intention to get in touch with investigators” because “he had played in this farce for 10 years.”

Khodorkovsky, 52, spent 10 years in prison on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement, which have been seen as punishment for challenging President Vladimir Putin’s power. Since his 2013 release, Khodorkovsky has continued to oppose the Kremlin from exile in Switzerland.

While Khodorkovsky was in prison, Putin and other senior officials kept dropping hints about his possible involvement in Petukhov’s murder. In 2010, Putin went as far as to suggest that Khodorkovsky had “blood on his hands.”

Khodorkovsky walked free in December 2013, less than two months before the start of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and just a few months before his scheduled release, after Putin issued a presidential pardon in response to Khodorkovsky’s petition to leave the country to meet his mother who was undergoing medical treatment in Germany.

Khodorkovsky was put on the plane on the day of his release. He has not returned to Russia since.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday that Putin had some “suspicions and information” about Khodorkovsky’s possible involvement in Petukhov’s murder when he issued the pardon but that the reports were not conclusive Putin “did not have the information that has now surfaced and triggered the actions that investigators are taking,” he said.(ap)

AP Photo/Yves Logghe, File

FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2014, file photo, Russian businessman and Amnesty International prisoner of conscience Mikhail Khodorkovsky smiles as he attends the Foreign Affairs Committee for a debate on human rights situation in Russia at the European Parliament building, in Brussels, Belgium.

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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Technology

International

Electric planes aim to soar high for cleaner aviation sector

AJDOVSCINA, Slovenia - Ultra-light, fast and cheap: more than a century after the Wright brothers flew the world’s first powered aircraft, a small Slovenian company now hopes to revolutionise the aviation industry with its award-winning electric planes.

Pipistrel’s pioneering Taurus Electro is seen as a breath of fresh air in a sector responsible for 13 percent of CO2 emissions from all transport sources.

Launched in 2007, around 20 orders are now put in every year for the two-seater plane, which is produced in a factory in the town of Ajdovscina, close to the Italian border.

The 110,000-euro ($120,770) price tag is offset by the plane’s inexpensive maintenance: at 70 cents an hour, the Taurus is 10 times cheaper to run than traditional twin-seater

planes, according to Pipistrel.

Simplicity is key: you charge the battery, hop inside the cockpit and hit the “on” button to activate the fuselage’s propeller.

The large-winged aircraft can thrust itself to an altitude of 2,000 metres (6,500 feet), after which the engine is retracted and the Taurus glides across the sky as a sailplane.

“You have just two buttons, up and down and full power, but you can always switch off immediately when you need to slow down the aircraft,” explained pilot Nejc Faganelj, soaring high above the

Slovenian countryside on a sunny winter’s day.

But behind the deceptively easy usage lies a highly complex design. The most crucial element -- and biggest challenge -- is the lithium battery, which needs to be light yet sturdy so that it doesn’t catch fire if it overheats.

“To copy a design from the car industry is not that difficult. But to make something that is lighter, more efficient -- that is definitely something that has not been done before,” said Pipistrel engineer Jure Tomaciz.

Now Pipistrel has even loftier ambitions: to sell the world’s first electric four-seater plane.

Its Taurus G4 prototype -- built by combining two twin-seaters -- won NASA’s prestigious Green Flight award in 2011, worth $1.35 million.

The plane covered 650 kilometres (400 miles) in the space of two hours with an average speed of 172 kilometres per hour.

“The car industry, with all the money it has at its disposal, and practically no weight limitation, even today isn’t capable of producing an electric car that would take four passengers for 600 kilometres at a speed of 200 kilometres per hour,” Pipistrel’s

founder, Ivo Boscarol told AFP. “We did that with our electric plane,” he added proudly.

The son of a machine engineer turned test pilot, Boscarol has spent the last three decades developing and perfecting his low-carbon invention.

Today, the Slovenian firm is a global market leader in the field of energy-efficient aviation travel, with Boscarol featuring on the 2015 list of news outlet Politico’s most influential Europeans.

“I’m sure the electric flight will become a standard. This aircraft will be able to cross the Atlantic, to fly faster, to carry more persons,” he said confidently. (afp)

Apple Maps, once a laughingstock, now dominates iPhones

AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File

In this March 9, 2015, file photo, the Apple Maps app is displayed on an Apple Watch during an event in San Francisco.

NEW YORK — Apple Maps quickly became the butt of jokes when it debuted in 2012. It overlooked many towns and businesses and misplaced famous landmarks. It marked New York’s Madison Square Garden arena as park space because of the word “Garden.” The service was a rare blunder for a company known for simple, easy-to-use products.

It’s a different story three years later.

Apple fixed errors as users submitted them. It quietly bought several mapping companies, mostly for their engineers and other talent. This fall, it added transit directions for several major cities, narrowing a major gap with Google. Apple Maps is now used more widely than Google Maps on iPhones.

“They really did a great job in a short amount of time,” said Alex Mackenzie-Torres, a former Google Maps manager who’s now with competing transit app Moovit. “Apple has something that few companies have — simplicity in design mixed with high doses of pragmatism and practicality.”

Apple’s significant investment in fixing Maps underscores how important maps and related services are to tech companies.

Location is key to helping phone users find restaurants and shops, discover things to do and just get around. It’s also big business, as app makers tap into the core map-

ping functions of phones to direct people in helpful ways and sometimes offer them bargains based on where they’re standing.

The quick turnaround also demonstrates how easily companies like Apple can steer people to their own services. Google Maps and various third-party apps offer many features that Apple Maps lacks, yet Apple cleverly turned user inertia to its advantage. Many people use Apple Maps just because it comes with the phone. Even if you’ve taken the trouble to download a competing app, other iPhone services such as Siri and Mail will invariably take you to Apple Maps.

Apple says its mapping service is now used more than three times as often as its next leading competitor on iPhones and iPads, with more than 5 billion map-related requests each week. Research firm comScore says Apple has a modest lead over Google on iPhones in the U.S., though comScore measures how many people use a service in a given month rather than how often.

Google still dominates among all U.S. smartphones, though, in part because Apple Maps isn’t available on Google’s Android system, which is more prevalent than iPhones. In October, Google Maps had more than twice as many smartphone users as Apple Maps. Much like Apple, Google benefits as the default on Android. (ap)

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International

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Bali News

International

From page 1

IBP/Wawan

The Rejang dance performed during ritual ceremony at Senduro Mandara Giri Semeru Agung Temple.

Nine dances in WCH shielding Bali

THE ACHIEVEMENTS of Indonesia in the tenth session of the Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage of the UNESCO in Namibia, Africa, can be said to be exceptional. After all, not many countries get nine of their dances recognized in a single determination. Earnest study and the taksu or divine vibration of these dances are important factors that contributed to these nine traditional Balinese being included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The initiative to propose that Balinese traditional dances be recognised by the UNESCO was started by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2010, but it was not until March 28, 2015 that they were submitted for approval to be included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The proposal that was submitted to the UNESCO, was signed by Director General of Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture and was accompanied by a 50 minute film about the nine traditional Balinese dances in question. In October 2015, they were approved as Intangible World Cultural Heritage by Indonesia.

Humanist and professor, Dr. I Made Bandem, said that Bali has so many forms and types of dances but that these nine dances were selected based on their history of representing (wether deliberately or not), specific districts or municipalities in Bali. The first group of dances emerged in Balinese kingdoms between the month and the fourteenth century, they are: the Rejang dance (Klungkung), the Sanghyang Dedari dance (Karangasem) and the Baris Upacara dance (Bangli).

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

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All Seasons Resort Legian Bali

Balinese...

Knowledge In Balinese communities, the knowledge on these dance forms is mainly imparted informally to children since an early age within groups.

Training starts with basic dance movements and positions and then advances to more intricate dance moves.

The sessions continue until the students have memorized the sequence of movements.

Traditional Balinese dance forms provide the participants with a solid cultural identity grounded in the understanding that they are safeguarding the cultural heritage of their ancestors, according to the UNESCO. Head of the Bali Cultural Office Dewa Putu Beratha noted in Denpasar, Bali, recently that the funding received following the UNESCO’s recognition, would be used to preserve the dances.

He claimed that the three genres of Bali dance comprise nine dances: Barong Ket, Joged Bumbung, Legong Keraton, Wayang Wong, Gambuh, Topeng Sidhakarya, Baris Upacara, Sanghyang Dedari, and Rejang.

“We are very happy and grateful on receiving this designation. Thus, Bali not only receives protection relating to the preservation of traditional dances but it will also offer economic benefits in future,” Dewa explained.

According to Dewa, after the UNESCO recognized the Balinese dance forms, it is now the responsibility of the central government, the Bali provincial government, and district/city governments to prepare the required infrastructure for the preservation and development of traditional Balinese dances.

Eight Indonesian cultural elements have so far been inscribed by the UNESCO since 2008.

The elements included are three genres of traditional Balinese dance inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2015 and the Noken multifunctional knotted or woven bag, a handicraft of the people of Papua inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2012.

The other elements are the Saman Dance of Aceh Darussalam Province inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2011, Angklung traditional musical instrument of West Java inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, and Batik inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009.

Education and training in Indonesian Batik intangible cultural heritage is being imparted to elementary, junior, senior, vocational school, and polytechnic students in collaboration with the Batik Museum in Pekalongan, which is inscribed on the List of the Best Safeguarding Practices in 2009.

The Wayang puppet theatre and Kris traditional daggers were inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.

The 10th session of the Committee, which was organized in Namibia, brought together the representatives of 24 States Parties to UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, now numbering 336 elements from various countries, demonstrates the diversity of this heritage and raises awareness on its importance. (ant)

Activities

The second group of dances are composed of classical dances from the fifteenth to nineteenth century. This group of dance consist of the Sidakarya mask dance (Tabanan), the Gambuh dance drama (Gianyar), and the Wayang Wong dance drama (Buleleng) also known as the bebali dance. The last group of dances emerged between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and are often referred to as balih-balihan dances or entertainment dance and include the Legong Kraton dance (Denpasar), Joged Bumbung (Jembrana), and Barong Ket Kuntisraya (Badung).

“I had expressed that, if for whatever reason all nine dances could not be included, we would reduce the number to just three: Sanghyang Dedari, Gambuh and Legon.

And if only one dance could be included in the list then we would propose the Gambuh dance because it is the basis for all Balinese dance drama. Thankfully, all nine dances were accepted,” said Bandem who burst into tears when he heard that the nine dances had all been accepted by the UNESCO. According to Bandem, a dance that has been determined to be cultural heritage may have sub-dances. For instance, the Rejang

dance has upward of 20 variants known in Bali. In the future, he hopes that the government will propose other traditional dances like the parwa dance drama, arja operetta, calonarang dance drama and berutuk dance to be recognized too.

“The countries of the UNESCO will commemorate the art of Balinese dance and this will open up a dialogue between cultures and strengthens Indonesia’s position in the field of cultural diplomacy. For Bali, all of these traditional dances are the source of for creating innovative contemporary works that are still being created to this day,” added Bandem who is a dancer himself.

He has also proposed that that the date on which the nine dances were official recognized by UNESCO- December 2, (which coincides with pagerwesi), be celebrated as Balinese Cultural Shield Day. Hopefully there will be increased public awareness about the importance of preserving and developing traditional arts. Specifically, he mentioned that the wali dance should not be performed carelessly.

“In the past, there was coaching about the sacred arts, but now this seems to have become dormant. Hopefully, in the future, even though the sacred dances cannot be staged in the Bali Arts Festival, institutions that pass on skill related to the sacred arts, can be better supported and given costumes and training so that they can be more active thus ensuring that the wali dances survive,” explained Dr. Bandem. (rin)

 Founder : K.Nadha,  General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti  Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bagiarta. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto.  Development: Alit Purnata, Mas Ruscitadewi.  Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp.

(0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post

LEGIAN - All Seasons Resort Legian opened since 2005 is located in the prime location between the popular Kuta and Seminyak shopping and entertainment areas. It is only 20 minutes from Ngurah Rai International Airport and a short stroll from the famous Legian beach. Step into All Seasons Legian spacious open lobby, you enter a world of colors. With concept of funky, warm and friendly service, all the guests will have an outstanding experience in Bali.

All Seasons have 78 Superior Rooms (24 sqm) functional and well designed with a modern influence, 6 Family Rooms (30 sqm) designed to welcome 2 adults and 2 children, and 29 Deluxe Rooms (32 sqm) provide more space and open rain shower.

The guest can take a table at Colours Café where they can sample Asian and International favorites or chill out on the comfy low slung couches while watch the widescreen TV in the Sky Bar. The Colours Café opened from 06.30 am-23.00 pm.

Surrounded by tropical gardens and frangipani trees, the central pool deck comes complete with kids pool, sun loungers and a bar serving any kind of food and beverage choices.

Enjoying also the serene of Chill Out at all seasons Spa that offers a full range of treatments, from traditional Balinese massage to Ayurveda, as well as nail care, hair treatments and facials, all using special made products.

Balinese Temple Ceremony

Every Temple and Shrine has a special date for it annual Ceremony, or “ Odalan “, every 210 days according to Balinese calendar, including the smaller ancestral shrine which each family possesses. Because of this practically every few days a ceremony of festival of some kind takes place in some Village in Bali. There are also times when the entire island celebrated the same Holiday, such as at Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi day, Saraswati day, Tumpek Landep day, Pagerwesi day, Tumpek Wayang day etc.

The dedication or inauguration day of a Temple is considered its birth day and celebration always takes place on the same day if the wuku or 210 day calendar is used. When new moon is used then the celebration always happens on new moon or full moon.

The day of course can differ the religious celebration of a temple lasts at least one full day with some temple celebrating for three days while the celebration of Besakih temple, the Mother Temple, is never less than 7 days and most of the time it lasts for 11 days, depending on the importance of the occasion.

The celebration is very colorful. The shrine are dressed with pieces of cloths and sometimes with brocade, sailings, decorations of carved wood and sometimes painted with gold and Chinese coins, very beautifully arranged, are hung in the four corners of the shrine. In front of shrine are placed red, white or black umbrellas depending which Gods are worshipped in the shrines.

In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbul-umbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land. Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

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Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Kardashian, Kanye welcome ‘Saint’ to family

In this Sunday, June 28, 2015, file photo, Kendrick Lamar performs at the BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Lamar, Taylor Swift and the Weeknd have earned top nominations for the 2016 Grammy Awards, including album of the year.

Rapper Lamar, pop star Swift lead Grammy nods

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File

NEW YORK - Rapper Kendrick Lamar on Monday received a near-record number of Grammy Award nominations, with pop superstar Taylor Swift leading for the most prestigious categories.

Lamar -- who has won wide critical acclaim for his politically charged latest album “To Pimp a Butterfly” -- earned 11 nominations for the music industry’s biggest awards, the highest number in a single night other than Michael Jackson’s 12 nods in 1984 during the King of Pop’s “Thriller” days.

“To Pimp a Butterfly,” Lamar’s first album in nearly three years, is unusually innovative for such a commercially anticipated album with long sections of unaccompanied spoken word, frequent historical allusions and jazzy interludes.

Lamar -- who hails from the gangsta rap capital of Compton in southern California but unlike many stars has had few personal controversies -- examines the state of US race relations on “To Pimp a Butterfly,” with mockery of Wash-

ington politicians and explorations on his search for inner strength.

Lamar’s heavy haul comes in part due to his collaborations with other artists, as he was also nominated for work with the DJ Flying Lotus and Swift herself.

Lamar also won acclaim for his last album, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City,” and was nominated in seven categories in the 2014 awards.

But he did not win any awards, leading some critics to allege a double-standard against African American artists.

Swift and The Weeknd, the rising Canadian R&B star, followed Lamar with seven nominations each for the Grammys, which will be announced at a gala ceremony in Los Angeles on February 15.

But Swift was ahead in the four most-watched categories, with

nominations in all of them except Best New Artist.

She enjoyed nods for Album of the Year for “1989” -- which marked her transition from country to pop -- as well as Record of the Year and Song of the Year for her hit “Blank Space.”

“1989” was the fastest-selling album in more than a decade although it was recently surpassed by “25,” the latest blockbuster by English ballad singer Adele.

“25” was not eligible for the Grammys, which cover releases in the year to September 30.

“To Pimp a Butterfly” and “Beauty Behind the Madness,” The Weeknd’s sophomore work, were also in contention for Album of the Year.

English singer and guitarist Ed Sheeran’s viral ballad “Thinking Out Loud” was also nominated for both Record of the Year, which considers overall performance, and Song of the Year, which recognizes songwriting. (afp)

NEW YORK - Rapper Kanye West and reality TV star Kim Kardashian are rarely accused of understatement and have given a fittingly grand name to their second child -- Saint.

Two days after announcing the boy’s birth over social media, Kardashian again took to Twitter and announced “SAINT WEST” -- along with emoji faces depicting the now four-member family.

The celebrity couple called their two-year-old daughter North, a play on geography as her surname is West although her given name was also meant to symbolize power.

While Saint and its derivatives are not unusual as surnames in English and several other languages, it is highly rare as a first name, with the title usually bestowed by religious authorities.

West -- who alongside his music career has been an increasingly active fashion designer -- is known to see himself in historic terms and has repeatedly compared himself to Michelangelo.

The couple, who were married in May 2014, have struggled to overcome fertility problems -- a battle that Kardashian openly discussed on the reality show. (afp)

WEATHER FORECAST 23 - 32 Dps

Wednesday, December 9, 2015 Japan launches anti-terrorism unit ahead of summit, Olympics Page 6

e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.

Benfica and Atletico Madrid slug it out to head Group C Page 8

UNESCO’s recognition of Balinese dances to help promote Indonesian tourism

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop pop-up shop in NYC robbed

NEW YORK — Authorities are searching for three men who robbed Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop pop-up shop in New York City of more than $173,000 worth of jewelry and watches.

It happened Saturday afternoon at the lifestyle website’s temporary store inside The Shops at Columbus Circle in midtown Manhattan’s Time Warner Center. The store had

one of its busiest days Saturday.

Police say one of the suspects used some kind of object to open a cabinet containing the merchandise while the employees were distracted.

A statement from Goop says its customers and staff are safe, and the store remains open for business “with proper security precautions in place.” The store is open through Dec. 24. (ap)

ANTARA FOTO/Fikri Yusuf

Tourists spend their holiday at Kuta Beach, Bali Island. The number of tourists from Australia to Bali is predicted to grow by a much slower rate this year as a result of the temporary shutdowns of airport and Australia’s economic slowdown.

Slowdown predicted in number of Australian tourists to Bali

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File

Beijing schools close as some residents take smog holiday Page 13

DENPASAR - The number of tourists from Australia to Bali is predicted to grow by a much slower rate this year as a result of the temporary shutdowns of airport and Australia’s economic slowdown.

The International Ngurah Rai airport was shut down several times with the eruption of Mount Barujari and Mount Rinjani spewing thick smokes that blurred vision over the airport.

“However, the impact of the shutdowns was relatively small on the number of visits to Bali. The main reason is the economic condition in Australia,” tourism observer Dewa Nyoman Putra said on Tuesday.

Australians are still the largest in num-

ber but the increase was relatively low amid economic slowdown mainly with the coal price fall, Dewa said.

The decline in the number of visitors from Australia, however was offset by significant increases in the number of visitors from the United States, Britain Japan, India and Germany, he said.

The increase in the number of countries from which visitors are given visa free visit contributed to the rise in the number of foreign tourists to the country in 2015

notably from China, placing it the second largest country of origin after Australia.

Based on official record of the Bali tourism office, there were 3.36 million foreign visitors to Bali in the first 10 months of the year, or an increase of 7.61 percent from the same period last year.

News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http://ustream.tv/ channel/global-fm-bali.

THE UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage meeting in Windhoek, Namibia, on December 2, 2015, inscribed 20 new elements, including three Balinese dances on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List. The three genres of traditional Balinese dance are sacred, semi-sacred, and that meant for enjoyment by communities at large, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Intangible Cultural Heritage published on its website recently.

Coordinating Minister for Cultural and Human Development Puan Maharani lauded the UNESCO’s decision to inscribe the dance forms on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the Committee for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The inclusion of the Balinese dance forms in the UNESCO World Heritage could help promote Indonesia’s tourism internationally, the minister emphasized.

The coordinating minister hoped that UNESCO’s recognition would encourage the Indonesian people to preserve the country’s culture and traditions.

Balinese traditional dance forms depict moral and religious values that could serve as a media to implement the mental revolution program, according to Maharani. Traditional Balinese dance forms are performed by men and women dancers dressed in traditional costumes comprising brightly colored clothes painted with gold floral and faunal motifs, with gold-leafed and ornate accessories.

The dance forms are inspired by nature and symbolize specific traditions, customs, and religious values.They combine a variety of different movements, including a basic posture wherein the knees are bent outwards and the stomach held in, locomotive movements in different tempos and directions, transitional movements with dynamic changes, and facial expressions with eye movements depicting happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and love, all in tune to the music of the ‘’gamelan.’’

In addition to being technically skilled dancers, the performers must have the charisma, humility, discipline, and a special spiritual energy that enlivens the performance, the UNESCO reported in a statement posted on its official website.

Continue to page 2 Balinese ...